Master and Servant
by Keshi-sama
Summary: A certainly... strange version of the origins of the Scarlet Devil Mansion and its inhabitants. Keep in mind that all OOCness is intentional... probably.
1. Chapter 1, All the King's Men

Keshi: Keep in mind that I own _nothing_ used in this story, except for a few characters and other things.

Master and Servant - I, All the King's Men

* * *

_'The living shall join the dead.'_

That was a phrase Remilia Scarlet knew well. It was from her past –another time, another place–yet she remembered as well as if she had just heard it.

The Scarlet Devil sat on the balcony of her mansion, looking out into the dark night sky. She closed her eyes and uttered the words that had once filled her mind so long ago. Gensokyo was safer, she had decided long ago. Safer from him. Safer from herself.

* * *

Remilia gave a small smile and opened her eyes. The face of an adult human male filled her view. Looking, she also saw Flandre and herself.

"Remi!" a human Flandre called. She was dressed in what seemed to be a worn linen dress, hand-sewn, bright blonde hair tied to one side of her head in a ponytail by a deeply red bow that had been given to her by one of the women in the city.

No longer was Remilia in the Scarlet Devil Mansion in Gensokyo, but on a farm in a land with a name she couldn't quite remember at this time.

Remilia Tenedril looked up from the book she was reading to see her sister waving to her from the empty field laying directly in front of the house. It was remarkably warm and sunny that day, and Remilia was happy to stay in the shade of the house. A slight breeze blew across the property, rustling the short grass by the risen wooden porch. Birds and small animals called from all around, a good many from the thick forest that lay on the other side of the field.

"Remi, come play with me!" the younger sister called, still waving, insistent on Remilia coming out to play.

Remilia sighed and put a bookmark on her page in the book, which she had gotten from a sale in Andorhal. As much as she would have loved to continue reading about heroes of the Second War, Flandre wouldn't be content to leave her alone. In fact, she gave out a cheer as Remilia set the book down and stood.

The young girl stepped down onto the dirt path, causing some dust to stir. She covered her eyes to the bright sun in the cloudless sky. Her dark brown hair shimmered in the light. Sighing again and lowing her hand, Remilia called out, "I won't stay out for long!" She walked to the broadly smiling Flandre.

Flandre giggled and ran out into the empty field. Remilia followed her out, thinking about the status of the field. Their grain had all died recently due to an fungal infection that spread quickly through the field, so the man (who Remilia was starting to recall was her father) had to make a trip to the nearby city of Andorhal to buy some to eat.

Flandre suddenly stopped and turned to Remilia, who stopped. "Let's play a game," the younger girl suggested, still smiling.

"And what would that be?" Remilia asked blandly, a bored expression sitting on her face. She knew that she would enjoy whatever game they played, but she still missed her book.

Flandre smiled and suddenly tapped her older sister on the shoulder and yelled, "Tag!" Laughing, she turned and ran farther into the barren field.

Remilia couldn't help but laugh as well (her childish instincts had set in) and set chase around the field. The two dashed back and forth on the dry grass that crunched with every step. Up and over a small hill they ran, by the small stream running near the house, by the gravestone by an old tree.

"I've got you!" Remilia yelled as she came closer to Flandre near the road. She stretched forward in hopes to catch her young sister, but there was a rock sitting in just the right place to throw her off balance and cause her to fly forward. Both she and Flandre went tumbling into the main road with surprised cries.

"Ow..." Remilia mumbled as she sat up, holding her head. "Hey, Flan, are you okay?" she asked, turning to look at the other, but Flandre was missing. "Flan? Flandre?" Remilia called, now on her feet.

Remilia turned towards the field quickly, hoping that maybe her sister was there, but it wasn't true. "Flandre!" she called once again.

"Remi, over here!" came Flandre's voice, distant.

Remilia spun to face the direction it came from. Her blood went cold when she saw it came from within the forest just on the edge of their property. "Flan!" Remilia yelled, running towards the trees. She slowed in front of the forest, reluctant to enter, but she pressed on to find Flandre(who, Remilia thought looking back, was rather fast at that age).

"Flan!" Remilia called again, hoping to get a general location of the girl. She most desperately hoped that her young sibling was not too far into the wooded area.

"Over here!" Flandre replied, her voice to Remilia's left. Said girl turned and headed in that direction.

_'Flan, you know you shouldn't be out here,'_ Remilia thought worriedly. There were terrible things lurking in the forest. Their father always spoke of horrible beasts that waited for young people to enter. Most children would be terrified simply from their parents talking of it, but Remilia had more reasons than that her father had told her.

She read many books, especially books about knights and monsters, and the forest was were the monsters always lived. Beasts worse than anything their father spoke of. Giant brutish ogres, kidnapping bandits, dog-like gnoll raiders, cannibalistic trolls... many others as well. Flandre, of course, had no fear of most things like these. They were only an interesting adventure to her.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by an overgrown root in her path. The young girl screamed in surprise as she went fell forward again, tumbling into a patch of ground cover ivy.

Remilia moaned as she pushed herself back to her feet. That was the second time today. "Flan!" She should have just stayed on the porch. Pressing ahead, she continued further into the eerie forest.

"Flandre!" she called again, hoping for a response as she stopped by an outcropping of rocks. Taking this time, she noticed exactly how quiet it was in the forest that day.

Suddenly, a hand was on her shoulder. Remilia screamed and spun away from it, but stopped when she saw who it was. A smiling Flandre stood there, holding her hand up. "Re-tag!" she called.

Flandre lowered her hand and changed the subject completely. "Hey, there was this neat guy out here. You just missed him, Remi," Flandre said as Remilia caught her breath. "He was really nice, too. I think you would've liked h-HEY!" Flandre yelled as Remilia grabbed her arm and began leading her out of the forest and away from the thick, dark trees. Flandre protested all the while of their return.

Remilia stopped when they finally reached the path in front of the house. She turned to the complaining Flandre and gave her a stern yet worried look. "You know it's dangerous to go in the forest! What was going on in your head to make you think that it was safe?"

"It's not like there's anything actually-"

"There are a _lot_ of things out there!" Remilia exclaimed, almost screaming. "There's wolves, bears, big cats, bugs, murlocs... orcs..." The last word came out as more of a whisper than anything, but it still carried weight. Both girls quieted at the mention of the green-skinned savages.

After a few seconds, Remilia looked at her sister and asked, "What was that you said about there being a man in the forest?"

Flandre brightened up and replied cheerfully, "He was a really nice man! He helped me up after I tripped and told me that he hoped I had a good supper tonight. Then he left and you showed up. Pretty weird, huh?! He looked very kindhearted, though."

Remilia stared back into the woods fearfully. If there was someone lurking around their property, she would have to fulfill her duty as the older sibling and keep a close eye on her sister. "You need to stay out of the forest today. No more games," she said, which brought a pout from Flandre.

"You're no fun!" the blonde girl whined. She would stay out of the forest, anyway. What Remilia had said earlier struck a soft spot for both of the girls.

Remilia nodded thankfully and said, "Anyway, we need to go wait for dad. He'll be home soon." It was their duty as the children to be there when the father returned.

Flandre nodded quietly and followed her sister to the end of the path, where it connected with the main road. The two of them stood there silently for some time as the sun burned overhead, watching the direction to Andorhal. They knew that it shouldn't be too much longer before their father returned, and they wanted to be here waiting when he did. After a few minutes, however, Flandre flopped to her rear on the ground, bored from staying in one place for so long. Remilia sighed and joined her sister, agreeing that her father wouldn't be riding from the horizon for a several minutes yet. It was like that that they noticed a group of riders approaching on horseback from the opposite direction.

The girls stood to meet this approaching group. "If they stop, let me speak with them," Remilia whispered to Flandre, who responded with a "'Kay."

Sure enough, the riders came to a halt in front of them. The one in front was a man, wearing plate armor with a blue tabard, his long blonde hair messy from a long ride. At his side was a woman holding a staff, face covered by a purple hood. Behind both of them rode a royal soldier, fully armored in the elite plate of an Alliance captain.

Remilia's eyes widened at the sight of the blonde man. She had never seen him for herself, but she knew from the descriptions given to her by her father who he was. "Your Highness," she said nervously, bowing, attempting to draw out the meager length that her worn clothing allowed. Flandre imitated her, though she was a little reluctant.

Prince Arthas Menethil smiled and said, "There's no need for that, you two. I'm here as a knight, not a prince."

Remilia slowly straightened, but she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes, much less speak to him again. Flandre, however, had no such problem.

"You're a knight?" the younger sister exclaimed in surprise, eyes burning with excitement.

Arthas couldn't help but laugh at the young girl's energy. "I am. Of the Silver Hand."

Flandre's mouth widened. "Just like in the stories Remi always reads! Going around, slaying dragons, saving nobles, going places where no one's ever been!" she said.

The woman pushed the hood back, revealing Jaina Proudmoore, who laughed and said, "You have a fan, Arthas."

Arthas smiled and said, "I can't say I've slain too many dragons," Arthas said, glancing at the small red orb tied to his hammer, "But I am here to help people."

Flandre squeed (Remilia couldn't think of a better way to describe the noise she made) and jumped up and down. Remilia decided that she would have to interrupt Flandre before things got too out of hand. "Y... Sir Menethil. What brings you out to the east?" she asked.

"We're heading to Andorhal. There's someone there that we really need to see," Arthas explained.

"Ah!" Flandre exclaimed. "Our dad went there to visit the market! He should be back soon."

"Really?" Jaina asked. "That's a strange coincidence."

The captain coughed to gain attention before stating, "We need to move. We've wasted enough time talking."

"There's no reason to be rude, Falric," Arthas said, but he turned to the sisters and said, "We do have to keep moving. Light keep you safe, girls." With that he and captain Falric began moving again, towards the city of Andorhal further along the road.

Jaina smiled and said, "It's been nice talking to you two," before she joined her companions.

"Bye!" Flandre called after the receding forms. "Wow, a real knight, Remi! I didn't think I'd ever get to meet one," she said. After a few more seconds of silence, she added, "Who was he, anyway?"

Remilia turned her head and stared at her sister in disbelief. "Who is he?" She turned to face Flandre fully. "That was Prince Arthas Menethil of Lordaeron!"

"He's a prince, too?" Flandre exclaimed with excitement once again. It was obvious that she had a new idol of worship.

Remilia put her hand on her face in disbelief. "Do you ever pay attention to what dad says when he talks about the government?" she asked.

"Nope!"

"I figured." Remilia sighed and looked up, dropping her arm to her side. The two stood there waiting for a few more minutes, Flandre swooning over having met Arthas all the while. Remilia kept her attention focused on the road, however, waiting for their father to appear. Soon, she saw that down the road the three had gone down earlier was now a wagon drawn by a pair of oxen, bouncing on the rough stones.

"Look, Flan," Remilia said, pointing to the wagon.

Flandre turned to see, immediately yelling, "Daddy!" upon seeing the vehicle. She began running towards it, waving her arms in the air, a huge smile dominating her face.

Remilia followed close behind, just as happy to see her father returning, though a little more restrained.

"Woah!" Called a voice from the wagon, the reigns on the oxen pulling back to slow them. The wagon came to a stop as the girls approached it. Both of them hopped on the side and climbed to the front, where their father awaited them.

"Daddy!" Flandre repeated, latching herself onto the man. Remilia sat down on the opposite side and leaned against his shoulder.

"I wasn't gone too long, was I?" he asked with a smile.

"Yes, you were! I thought you weren't coming back at all, for a while!" Flandre exclaimed, burying her face into her father's arm, causing the latter to laugh and say that he would never leave the two of them all alone.

Remilia sat quietly until the wagon came to a halt. "Up and at 'em, Remi. I need to get all the grain into storage and serve dinner," her father said. The young girl sat up and looked out of the wagon into the orange-tinted grass. Flandre was already running inside the house.

"Prince Arthas rode by today," she reported, hopping down from the wagon.

"Ah, really? I saw him on the road here and wondered what he could be doing here," her father called as he led the oxen to the barn.

"He said he and his companions were heading to Andorhal," Remilia explained.

"That'd be why they asked me what was happening there. There wasn't anything, really. Just a loading of new crops," the man said as he walked back out of the barn and to the wagon. "Hey, go help Flandre get ready for us to start eating. I'll be right in with the grain."

Remilia nodded and went into the house, picking up her book on her way in. Flandre stood by the table, setting out three wooden bowls with spoons. Remilia set the book on a small table by the window that looked out into the field. Her younger sister was humming a tune that Remilia hadn't heard before, but she thought that it was a rather catchy one despite its unusual opening.

The father entered the house with a small bag of grain. "Alright," he said. "Let's get to eating." He dumped the grain into the bowls and placed some bread, meat, and water he had bought next to them.

"Yay!" Flandre called, taking her spot at the table. Remilia sat down quietly and began eating her bread. She was a little tired after the day's events. Flandre immediately started on the grain.

The father smiled as he sat down at the lantern-lit table. "So, how was your day while I w-" he suddenly cut off, coughing violently.

Both Flandre and Remilia shot up and went to him. He managed to smile and say, "It's okay, girls. I'm-*coughhackweeze*-fine." His voice was starting to crack.

Remilia grabbed some of the water on the table and said, "This might help." She handed it to her father, who smiled and took it gladly, despite his earlier protest.

"I'm fine, really," he said, but he still downed a lot of the water. "Thanks, " he said before handing the empty container back to Remilia with a smile. "I feel much better no-." The father suddenly yelled in pain, arching his back with an expression of pure agony. He through himself down with a heavy force and slammed his head against the table, causing a sickening crack to resound. The table splintered slightly around the impact point.

"Dad!" Flandre exclaimed. The father began thrashing side to side and spasming, knocking over the lantern in the process.

Remilia reached for a full glass of water to douse the flames, but her father reached out and grabbed her arm. With a force she had never believed her father would use, he threw her against the wall. The air in her lungs was suddenly forced out, leaving her breathless for several seconds. "Remi! Daddy, stop!" Flandre screamed, but her words fell on unhearing ears.

The father stood, throwing the table across the room, causing it to break apart. He swung his arm sharply to strike Flandre to the ground. The once fatherly creature rose its rapidly changing arm to deliver the killing stroke, but a large book suddenly struck its head and caused it to stumble.

Remilia picked up another one of her books and threw it at the monstrosity that her father had become, still trying to catch her breath. She ran forward to Flandre while her father was distracted and grabbed her arm. "Flan! Flan, get up!" she yelled hoarsely.

The younger girl only moaned in response. "Flandre!" Remilia screamed as the father regained its balance. It kicked Remilia, knocking her away.

Flandre regained consciousness and pushed herself up slowly, shaking her head. The raging creature roared and laughed at the same time. "This fast infection serves well, despite its drawbacks!" it yelled in a voice much different from the one the father had once spoken with, and then in a slightly more familiar voice, deeper and more rough, "The living shall join the dead!"

Flandre scrambled away from it in fear. Remilia was back on her feet. She grabbed her sister's arms and yelled, "We need to leave!" The younger sister stood and grabbed her older sister in shock. Remilia shook her as the once-father walked towards them, skin falling from his body in rapidly rotting chunks, revealing the expanding muscle and bone underneath.

Remilia gave up her pleas with Flandre as the monster approached. She forcibly pulled Flandre to her feet and started running towards the door. The fire had caught on strong, burning all around them.

Suddenly, Flandre caught her leg on a piece of the broken table, tripping her out of Remilia's grasp. "Flan!" Remilia yelled in surprise as her sister fell. She turned to go back for her, but the fire decided otherwise. Its flames had engulfed the ceiling and burned out the supports. A large pile of burning wood fell in between Flandre and Remilia, completely cutting them off from each other.

"Flandre! Flandre, are you okay?" Remilia screamed worriedly. She covered her face as the fire flared at her. She peeked over her arm into the blaze, hoping to catch some glimpse of her younger sister. There was no such luck. "Flandre, you need to get out of there!" she yelled before turning to run out of the burning house.

Remilia stopped once she was outside and turned back to the house. "Flan!" she yelled again, hoping that her sister could hear her. _'I will not leave you in there!'_ she thought, preparing to go back in to see if she could get to Flandre somehow.

Remilia had time to take a single step before arms wrapped around her and pulled her screaming back. A robed hand grabbed the girl's chin and pulled it up, forcing her mouth open with the thumb. The other dumped a vial of liquid down her throat.

Remilia gagged as the warm liquid ran down. Within a few seconds, her eyes had rolled into the back of her head and she was unconscious in front of a burning farm house.

* * *

A few days passed. The fires of the farm had been quelled by the rain some time ago. A damp fog lay heavily in the air, obscuring any sight from a distance.

In back of the house lay the motionless corpse of a young girl. It stirred suddenly, rising to its feet. The world was quiet around it.

Sniffing the air, it smelled the blood of four humans approaching the house. It ran inside.

Sergeant Marsher led his footmen nearer to the burned house. All four of them wore light armor; buff coats modified for ground troops with chain mail shirts covering them, leather boots, gloves for their hands and helmets. Their objective was to discover what had exactly befallen the area, and this farm was conveniently nearby. "Harkel, gajn tin hüszejden. Ward majne ancejge efter."

Private Harkel nodded and headed around to the side of the farm house, stepping across a small stream that ran next to the house. The waiting creature watched him do this. It could smell their blood, it could see it. One thought flowed into its mind- _'The living shall join the dead'_.

Marsher and the other two footmen approached the front of the burned house with swords and shields at the ready. "Berejte selb for. Et mag zejn tat in undejden zejd an tern hüs," the Sergeant said in warning. The two footmen nodded, prepared in case something should be found. He then stepped inside the destroyed building, the other two soldiers following behind. They were only allowed access to half of the house due to a large pile of burned rubble that blocked easy movement between the two sides.

The creature continued to wait as they searched around the house, watching from its post in a flame-darkened corner above the door.

"Majnhajr! Seke disen!" one of the soldiers called to Marsher.

The Sergeant approached, asking, "Wat?"

The soldier raised what he was holding to show to Marsher. It was a slightly burned painting of a family. Marsher frowned and said, "Sten tat, Goltmalm. Wic zejd to spajtem." Private Goltmalm nodded sadly and sat the picture on a nearby table. The trio proceeded to search the rest of the small house, finding nothing conclusive in their search. Marsher, seeing that there was nothing of use was to be found in this house gathered the two footmen and led them out.

The creature watched as Marsher gathered the other footmen together to lead away. It watched in stillness and silence as Marsher and Goltmalm passed under the door, waiting for the last of the trio to approach before dropping, mouth open in a blood-curdling screech.

He yelled as the creature dropped onto his shoulders. It sank its fangs into his neck and began draining the blood from his body.

"En bloteser! En undaud!" Goltmalm yelled as his fellow soldier collapsed, blood pouring out onto the ground.

The creature raised its head from the now dead soldier to look at Goltmalm, who had drawn his sword. Goltmalm was paralyzed at the sight of its face. Crimson eyes, razor teeth, a hideous snarl... the features of a young girl. "Ter Lüt waerde..." he whispered.

A low growl rose in the throat of the creature. It leaped from the corpse, screeching with a trail of blood flying out behind it like a line of rain.

Goltmalm raised his shield to stop it from knocking him over and pushed back. The creature's strength surprised him as it stood strong against his pushes. Goltmalm watched as the creature's hands wrapped around the rim of his shield and pulled, completely overcoming his grasp and pulling the shield away from him.

The undead turn threw the shield at Marsher, who had been attempting to flank it. Goltmalm took this chance and slashed down, embedding his sword in the creature's neck, but it did little. The creature grabbed the blade and pulled Goltmalm closer, turning around as it did so. The blade came free from Goltmalm's hands as the undead threw one of its hands to meet him.

Goltmalm screamed in pain as the creature's claws dug into his eyes. His scream was short-lived, as it followed up this by tearing into his throat with its fangs. Goltmalm sputtered as the last breaths of air he would take came. Blood covered the creature's face as it turned to face Marsher.

It hissed, drawing back its lips to show the reddened fangs. Marsher was unimpressed by this, however, and yelled, "Harkel! Ruk tern leger to! Ik skul füten tis tiris!"

"M-majnhajr! Ik skul net geben dik üp!" Harkel responded, not wanting to leave his leader behind.

"Ruk to!" the Sergeant repeated before letting out a battle cry. He raised his sword and shield and charged at the creature. His opponent leaped from the dying Goltmalm.

The two met in sudden flurry of sword and claw, neither gaining the upper hand. Marsher smashed the creature with the shield, but it grabbed the sword that he followed the bash up with. Its claws scratched his face, but he countered to slash the creature across the chest with his sword.

Marsher drew his sword back again for another strike, but the creature was ready this time. It immediately drew close to him, stabbing its claws into his underarms, piercing straight through Marsher's armor.

The sergeant dropped his sword, letting out a pained yell. The creature grabbed the muscles underneath his arms and ripped, pulling handfuls of muscle from Marsher's body. It then kicked one of his knees back to break it. Marsher collapsed to his good knee as the other broke backwards.

The human's sight began blurring from pain. Now that he was at its level, the creature dug its fangs into his neck and began drinking. Blood ran freely across the slightly burned clothes, staining them red.

Harkel yelled in fear and began to flee, unable to contend with such a monstrosity. With the intent to let none leave alive, the creature stopped drinking long enough to grab Marsher's sword and throw it after the retreating form.

Harkel panted heavily as he ran, his fear making him hyperventilate. That monster had slain three trained soldiers as if they were simple pigs. He needed to get back to their camp and warn the others. He needed-.

A sharp pain hit him from behind. He felt the blade tear straight through his chain mail and his leather, piercing through his flesh. Harkel fell forward, suddenly very tired. He needed...

The creature drank more after Harkel fell dead. Marsher barely could make any noise as his blood left his body in large amounts. It wasn't long until he too was just another drained corpse.

The creature threw its head back and screamed in victory, covered almost completely in blood.

It was a sound that could chill the blood in the veins of a dragon.

_'My servant..._' a voice whispered into the creature's mind. It was the only voice it understood. A tug pulled at it mentally, directing the creature west. Without a second of hesitation, it opened into a tireless sprint west, moving faster than any Human could. Hours passed to bring the world into night, and the creature arrived at the walls of a grand city.

Guards patrolled every wall, stood at every gate. Even a creature as fearsome as it couldn't come out a victor against all of them.

It followed the wall around until it came to two robed figures. They recognized the creature. "In here, fellow servant," one said, stepping aside to reveal a sewer grate. The creature pulled the covering off quietly and slipped into the city sewers.

For some time it stayed there, living off the blood of rats. The living passed overhead daily without the knowledge of such a monster lurking beneath them.

* * *

The creature took a large bite out of a dying rat, spilling blood everywhere. It had waited for weeks, eagerly awaiting the call of its master. It cast the dead rat aside into a pile of the animal corpses.

Suddenly, the creature's head shot up. _'The living...'_ an echo called distantly in its mind. It was immediately on its feet and sprinting for the exit. Screams and battle cries could be heard from the city above, mixed with the beautiful sounds of undeath.

The creature leaped, knocking the sewer covering away. A nearby young human male jumped back in surprise. "Undaud!" he yelled in fear. He turned to flee, but the creature was not to allow that. It grabbed his shirt and pulled back.

The human stumbled at the sudden force and screamed as he realized that he couldn't flee. The creature sank its fangs into his back, getting a gush of fresh human blood in response.

Content with tasting human blood again after so long, the creature tore out the young man's throat threw the him to the ground. The man gurgled and clapped his hands to the wound. The blood spilled out too fast for him to contain, however, and he was dead almost instantly.

It turned to the right as a house door opened. A man ushered out a woman and young boy through the door, looking around with worried eyes. When those eyes fell upon the creature and corpse, both covered in blood, he grabbed the other two and pulled them behind him.

"Hald!" he yelled at the creature in a vain attempt that it would obey him. The creature didn't heed him and charged, claws extended to make the kill. The man pushed forward to meet it, yelling out, "Lofe!" to his family.

The woman grabbed the screaming child and began running down the road with him in her arms, away from the undead.

The man hoped to keep the creature occupied for long enough for his family to get away, but it was much stronger than he. He tried to punch for its face, but the creature simply reached out an arm and batted him away. It brought its other arm forward, tearing through the man's ribcage into his heart. The man's eyes bulged as he felt the claws pierce into his core. He could do nothing as his lifeblood flowed strong from his open chest. The creature withdrew its claws from the man's chest and wasted no time, turning to sprint after the fleeing woman. Behind it, the man fell to his side, silently urging his family to find safety as he witnessed the last of the world.

It didn't take long for it to catch her. It reached out to grab the back of her dress and pull, causing her to trip and fall. The boy rolled a short distance away. He pushed himself up in time to see the undead sink its teeth into his mother's neck.

"L-lof..." she said before she lost consciousness. The boy screamed in terror and anger and charged at the creature, tears running down his face. He grabbed the creature by the shoulders, yelling, "Hald!" However, he only served to annoy the feeding monster. It reached up and scratched him across the face with its claws, causing him to stumble back and scream in pain.

The monster ignored him after that and finished draining the body, blood pouring down onto its torso.

After eating, it looked up to see the tips of the church. A mental tug called it to the place that was ripe for bloodshed. It stood and began sprinting, leaving the child there alone, crying as he crawled to the corpses of his parents, blood streaming from his face.

The creature ran through the chaotic streets, avoiding all conflict in favor of its next kill. It was all well as the other servants were making sure that none left the city alive. A child ran screaming past the creature from a slobbering ghoul. A pair of footmen dueled with a large undead creature which had covered a third in webbing. A gargoyle swooped down from above the grab an archer on a tower by his shoulders and drop him into the city below.

It was not alone when it arrived at the church. Multiple Paladins stood guard outside the church to protect it from the attackers. As the creature approached, a group of other undead swarmed towards the church.

The creature screeched in its terrible way and charged into combat. A Paladin turned to the sudden noise, only to be cut down by its claws. His dying yell attracted the attention of a nearby dwarf Paladin. He roared in anger, proceeded to smash the skeleton he was in combat with, and switched his focus to the killer of his friend.

He threw out his hand, causing a ball of light to fly from it. It struck the creature in the chest. The impact caused a burst of steam to explode outward, burning through the creature's clothes and creating a burn mark on its chest.

The creature hissed in pain and leaped towards him. The Paladin raised his hammer to end the monster, but his reflexes were not enough to stop it. Both went tumbling across the pavement, wrestling unarmed.

The Paladin was at a distinct disadvantage, and he knew it. He pushed back against his opponent, causing it to barrel off of him. Following this up, he grabbed his hammer and swung as he got to his knees. The creature received the end of a warhammer to its head, knocking it to the ground, but this did little to truly affect it.

The creature jumped back to its feet as the dwarf stood. It was much faster than he, closing upon him almost instantly. Its claws dug into his shoulders, cracking the armor he wore. The creature hissed triumphantly and brought its head down to the exposed neck of the dwarf.

The fangs were almost touching the skin when something struck the undead mentally. 'Sleep, child,' a kind voice spoke into the mind of the creature. It collapsed forward and fell from the Paladin. He, thinking a miracle had occurred, scurried to his feet for his hammer to finish the creature for good, but he was set upon by other undead creatures almost immediately.

Amidst the chaos, an old woman walked untouched. She scooped the unconscious creature into her arms and left the turmoil, heading for the sanctuary of an isolated house tucked away in the forests.

* * *

It was all foggy. An image of a young blonde girl, a close relative beyond recognition, a burned home, mutilated corpses, the face of a barely remembered woman.

The girl thrashed about with all of the horrors of the past month being replayed in her head. She saw the people she had killed, all screaming in terror as she slaughtered them without remorse. She saw the innocents being hunted and killed like rats in the streets of their own home city. She saw the rage in the eyes of the dwarf as he fought to avenge his fallen friend. The tears in the eyes of the child.

Finally, she stood at the base of a large spire of ice and metal. The air was freezing, causing the hairs on her arms to stand straight up. A wind blew loudly over the vast whiteness all around. Steps and steps she climbed up for a purpose of which she had no idea.

She came to a large open area. A figure appeared at the edge of the area. It sat still in a throne made of ice, silently watching everything she did. Slowly, the girl made her way towards it. A growing fear steadily filled her as she approached, but she continued nonetheless.

Its glowing blue eyes seemed to bore into her very soul as she came to a halt in front of it. The figure was pieces of armor encased in ice. She reached out to touch the ice, to test its coldness.

Suddenly, the girl shot up with a jolt. Her breathing was heavy and frightened. Her eyes searched around her in a sort of panic. Slowly, she calmed. There was no throne, no cold.

She looked around her in a slight daze that quickly wore off. She was on a small bed in a dimly candle-lit room. There were pictures on the walls of the room, depicting a young woman and a girl, both cheerful. The girl swung her feet out of bed and stood. She wore a comfortable sleeping dress.

She hurried to the door and went through it. Outside of the room was just as pleasant. It was warm from a fire that the girl could hear burning downstairs. It was very quiet and organized, just as it was in the room.

Slowly, the girl crept barefoot down the stairs. She came into a very cozy room with a fireplace on one side. A figure say unmoving in a chair near the fire, seemingly asleep.

The girl was as quiet as possible in her movements for the door. She was almost there when the voice of an old woman spoke up. "Go lay back down, girl. You aren't recovered enough to fight through the Scourge."

The girl jumped at the sudden voice. "H-how-"

"I'm old, not deaf," the woman said, standing. "Now, let's get you back upstairs." She walked to the girl and grabbed her gently by the shoulders and led her back to her bed.

"Do you have a name?" the woman asked as the girl was lying down.

There was some hesitation while the girl thought, but soon she answered, "Remilia."

"Remilia... that's a pretty name. Do you have a last name?"

Remilia hesitated more to the question, but she had no answer.

The woman considered this and nodded. "Is there anything that you remember?"

Remilia her opened her mouth to say that there wasn't-

_A young child, screaming and crying as he shook his parents' corpses. Blood ran from claw marks on his face across his eyes. They were both wounds that would never heal._

"N-nothing," she said quickly.

Her nervousness earned a strange look from the woman, but it was only passing. "Very well," she said. "You were a servant of the Lich King. A mindless, bloodthirsty monster. However, you are also unique. Your power could be far greater than any of the others in Ner'zhul's service, even the Death Knights. This cannot happen if you do not learn what you can and cannot do."

Remilia was silent through the explanation. "So I'm a monster," she said. What a great thing to tell an amnesiac child. This woman was incredibly forward.

"No, no, no. You were a monster. Now you are free. Free to choose to leave once recover, free to stay, free to do what you want instead of what the Lich King wants," the woman explained.

Remilia was silent again. She nodded and closed her eyes, exhaustion suddenly overwhelming.

"Goodnight, Remilia," the woman said as the world faded into sleep.

* * *

The next day, Remilia and the woman sat in the main room of the house. Remilia had had a similar dream when she went back to sleep, only it wasn't only the armor occupying the throne. There was someone else with it.

She looked down at the table in front of her. The woman had served sweet wheat bread for their meal. Remilia yawned and grabbed the bread. She was incredibly hungry for some reason. The woman watched closely as Remilia bit off a piece of the bread, focused completely on her.

Remilia was uncomfortable with the gaze and started to say so. Before she could, however, she lurched forward suddenly, her stomach violently emptying its contents on the table. The process repeated itself until every crumb of the bread was gone from her body and in the growing pool on the table.

The woman nodded and went to the now crying Remilia. "It's okay, it's okay," she whispered while rubbing the girl's hair. "Now, let's go get you cleaned up." She helped Remilia stand and led her to the washroom. There were several buckets of water there, one of which was hanging over a fire to keep it warm.

"Wash yourself up. I'll clean up the mess and bring you a fresh change of clothes. Leave yours in that basket," the woman said, leaving to what she had said.

Remilia looked around and rubbed the tears from her eyes. That experience had been quite painful. Now she was confused, tired, even more hungry, and covered in vomit to top it off.

Deciding that it was rather disgusting to just stand there in the messy clothes, she stripped them off and placed them in the basket. She was dipping one of the washcloths from a stack in the corner into the hot water to begin washing when the woman walked in, carrying a batch of fresh clothes.

"How are you feeling?" the woman asked while setting the clothes on a stool.

"Miserable. Tired. Hungry," Remilia answered, making each word audibly a different sentence.

The woman smiled and said, "The first two will have to wait, but I may be able to help with the third. Look at me and show your teeth." Remilia complied.

The woman nodded when she saw the two long fangs in Remilia's mouth. "I had thought so," the woman said.

"Thought what?" Remilia questioned, curious as to her benefactor's thoughts.

"Finish cleaning yourself and I'll explain." She left the washroom to allow Remilia to continue.

The woman was waiting in the main room when Remilia finally emerged, completely clean. The girl was now dressed in a clean white dress instead of her sleeping clothes.

Smiling, the woman told Remilia to stand by her.

"You told me that you would explain what happened with the bread. Well?" Remilia asked, suddenly changing her attitude.

"Watch yourself with me, girl," the woman said hardly. She did say she would, however, so she asked Remilia to sit.

When Remilia was seated, the woman kneeled down beside her and rolled up her own sleeve. She then set a cup down and took picked up the knife sitting on the table. With that, she cut her arm.

Remilia stared at the slowly dripping blood in a sort of trance. Drop by drop it fell, and she watched every one closely.

The woman nodded and said, "It's okay, Remilia. If you're hungry, I will feed you this way." She covered the cut and picked up the glass. Handing the glass to Remilia, the woman continued, "It seems that you can't eat regular food. The fierceness that you had when you fought those few days ago were a clue, but those fangs of yours also helped fortify my belief."

Remilia licked her lips at the close proximity of the blood and asked, "W... what do you mean 'those few days ago'?"

"Drink the blood."

Remilia looked at the small amount of red liquid collected at the bottom of the glass. It smelled sweet, drawing her closer. The sight of it sent her heart racing, her hunger flaring. She raised the glass and let the blood run into her mouth. Every drop was drained, leaving Remilia feeling better.

"A vampire."

"A what?" Remilia asked, confused as she broke out of the trance.

"A vampire," the woman repeated. "I've read about them but I'd never believed them to exist. They drain blood from living bodies and feed off of it. They also gain many physical strengths, but there are weaknesses as well."

Remilia set the glass down. "So I _am_ a monster after all," she said depressedly, a few tears gathering in her eyes.

"No you're not, Remilia," the woman replied. She wiped the tears away. "You're a unique person. Better than the normals. Never let yourself believe that you are anything less than great."

"Better..." Remilia echoed, calming down. It was an interesting idea.

"Exactly. Now, I've done research on vampires and I can teach you how to use this gift to the best of its potential." The woman stood and continued, "The first lesson is hunting. Let's go find you some food."

Remilia followed her to the door. "Where exactly am I supposed to get food?" she asked.

"From animals," the woman answered simply. She grabbed a cloak from a rack by the door and handed it to Remilia. "Take this. Vampires do not fare well in the sunlight," she explained.

Remilia grabbed the cloak and looked up. While doing this, she noticed a strange ornament hanging above the door. It was a small symbol that looked like two snakes wrapping around each other and a small rod. It hung from a small nail above the door, held by a small chain. "What's that?" she asked, curious as to what the strange object may be.

The woman followed Remilia's gaze to the object and smiled. "It's a charm," she said. "It's to protect this house from especially unwanted guests."

Remilia stared at it for a while before nodding. She then wrapped the cloth around her shoulders and pulled the hood up to cover her unprotected head. With that the two left the house in search of suitable food for the young vampire.

* * *

Remilia stared out over the Misty Lake in Gensokyo, deep in thought. That old woman had taken her around the forest several times to get her used to the smells and sounds of the plants and animals. She hadn't been allowed to climb a tree after food until she could properly identify the animal that she was hunting. If she happened to be wrong in what type of animal it was, she would be made to leave the animal for dead and hunt another.

There had been one time...

* * *

This was found out by Remilia and her caretaker one afternoon while they were hunting. They happened across the corpse of a human, killed by sword.

The woman knelt by the corpse and began praying. Remilia watched with deep interest. Her heart beat faster as she saw the blood from the wound that had soaked the ground. She hadn't had human blood since the woman had cut her arm.

As the woman rose, she noticed Remilia's expression. "He is dead, girl. Have what you wish from him," she said, waving Remilia ahead.

The young girl hesitated but approached the corpse anyway. She knelt down to allow her fangs to reach his neck and bit in. It was such a sweet taste that she didn't want to stop. The blood was slightly cold due to the time the corpse had been laying dead, but it wasn't enough to make it too unenjoyable. Suddenly, a hand grasped her shoulder and shook, bringing her out of her joy. Remilia looked up with a curious look. "What?" she asked.

The woman pointed at Remilia's dress. The girl looked down at her clothes to see them soaked in red. Little of the blood had actually been used. Most of it had simply ended up staining her clothing. She was quite a sight with half of her white dress turned into a crimson.

The woman gently grabbed Remilia's shoulder and pulled a cloth out of her pocket. "You shouldn't try to eat so much," she said, wiping the blood from Remilia's mouth. "You've stained your dress."

* * *

The events flashed by into nothing. Remilia sat once again on the balcony of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. She sighed and took a sip from her tea. Many years had passed since then, and she had changed much. She flapped the tips of her wings to remind herself of their existence.

Setting the tea cup down, Remilia looked out into the courtyard. That woman was someone she would always respect, even into the modern day. She was Remilia's teacher, caretaker, trainer... the Devil strongly considered adding "mother" to the list.

Remilia stood from her chair and walked to the railing. Many years...

* * *

The woman lay quietly on her bed. Remilia sat next to her with moist eyes. It had been her time, Remilia told herself. Weeks had passed since she had started living with the woman. She had learned much about the world and herself during that time. Now she had learned about death.

The woman had told Remilia her name. The girl found it to be a little strange compared to the names she had read about in the history books.

Letting the last of her tears fall, Remilia decided it was time. She went outside behind the house to where a shovel was stuck in the ground and stared at it. This would finish it.

Remilia grabbed the shovel and pulled it up. "Okay..." she whispered. "Okay..." She stuck the end of the shovel down and began digging. It was a large hole she made.

She let the shovel fall to the ground to the side when she finished and went back inside. Remilia stood next to the woman's corpse. She waited there for several minutes, staring at her former benefactor. Slowly, she began rolling the blankets around the woman, making her into a bundle. Remilia tucked the small charm the woman had given her into the blankets. It was supposed to ensure that she stayed dead instead of being risen as a servant of the Scourge.

She carried the corpse out to the grave and gently lay it inside the hole. Tears welled up as she looked at the unmoving bundle. Shaking her head, Remilia grabbed the shovel and began piling the earth back.

After she finished, she put a large rock that was sitting by the side of the house on top of the pile to mark it.

Remilia stood there, staring at the grave. Suddenly, rain began falling from the night sky. Covering her head, Remilia ignored the pain in order finished her time outside. Satisfied, she retreated indoors.

She stood inside the now empty house listening to the rain on the roof. There was nowhere for her to go. Slowly, Remilia went upstairs to sleep through the rain.

* * *

Months had passed since the death of the woman. Remilia had lived alone for that time, learning how her powers worked. If she needed food, she would hunt out at night. She'd also continued teaching herself from the multitude of books that the house's personal library held.

It was early evening one day. Remilia was reading through a book she had found hidden on a shelf. It wasn't her average read, that was certain. Her face grew hot at one point in the story. _That's_ why it had been hidden.

Remilia was reading the book with great interest when she heard the door to the front room suddenly open. She quickly set the book down and hurried out of her room. From downstairs came heavy, labored breathing and quick footsteps.

The vampire ran down the stairs, expecting some sort of monster to have broken in. She stopped when she saw what actually had entered. Instead of some horrendous beast tearing through her house, there was a young woman looking hurriedly through her medicine cabinet.

The woman turned at the sound of Remilia's arrival. She was wearing bright red colored clothing with a tabard with a strange symbol on it. A spear with two hooks on the tip that Remilia believed to belong to the intruder lay against the wall nearby. Her tied-back hair was a strange, silver color. A more noticeable quality was that she was bleeding profusely from multiple cut wounds all over her body.

"What are you doing in my home?" Remilia asked the woman.

"Are you human?" the woman asked in return, ignoring the question asked her.

"I'm a vampire," Remilia answered proudly. The woman froze at the response. "Now, wha-..."

With a cry of anger, the stranger grabbed her spear with one arm and thrust it out towards Remilia.

_Kshshk!_

The woman tripped over her own feet and crashed into the table separating her and Remilia. The spear flew past Remilia and clattered uselessly to the floor behind her. "Ugh..." the woman moaned as she lay there, bleeding on the broken wood.

Sighing, Remilia grabbed the now unconscious woman and dragged her upstairs to the extra . She set the woman on the bed and headed back downstairs. Her former caretaker had taught Remilia much about first aid, so she knew what to do in this case.

The vampire grabbed a pack of medical supplies from the cabinet that the woman had been searching through earlier and went back to the room. By this time, the woman had recovered from her fall and was attempting to sit up.

At the sight of Remilia, the woman jumped in fear and surprise away from her.

"You won't get any better by jumping around so nervously," Remilia said, slightly annoyed. She was doing her best with this woman. It was the first contact with people other than the old woman that Remilia could remember having.

The woman stared at her fearfully. "Why haven't you killed me yet?" she asked shakily.

"I'm not going to just let you die here. If I did that, you'd become part of the Scourge."

"Y-you're not part of the Scourge?" the woman inquired curiously.

"No, I'm not. I'm not going to hurt you either, so sit still so I can help you," Remilia commanded. The two stared at each other for some time before the woman grudgingly lay down. "Good."

Remilia set to work on caring for the injuries, occasionally earning a hiss of pain or cringe in response. It was her first actual application of the skill, after all.

It wasn't long before the young woman was laying on the bed, wounds covered by heavy bandages and herbs applied to help healing. The woman sighed in relief and closed her eyes as Remilia pulled her hands back.

"Well then," Remilia started, "I believe that it is common courtesy for someone to know who they help. What's your name?"

The woman opened a single eye to look at her inquirer. She adjusted her shoulders and answered, "Yana. Yana Bloodspear." With that stated, she continued, "I am a member of the Scarlet Crusade, and I am here to ensure that inhuman trash such as yourself are eradicated from this land so that the rightful people may return to their homes." The woman took a deep breath, preparing for a speech.

"We stand for all that is good and proper in the eyes of the Light. Your kind are abominations of this, and for that we fight you. As long as you exist, the people may not sleep soundly in their beds, knowing that they will wake to the day just as it was before. We fight for these good people, people who were driven out of their land by a horrible plague known as the Scourge, a plague that you are living proof of. We exist to bring the brilliance of the Light back into this darkened land that had once known such peace. Beware the color Scarlet, monster, for it is the color that shall paint our blades."

Remilia cocked an eyebrow to the drawn-out explanation. It sounded as if that was a memorized monologue. "Is that how you repay someone who has just saved your life?" She gave a small laugh. "If I wanted to, I could have made scarlet the color of my walls with you. I'd try and be more careful with beings such as me."

The vampire yawned (she had gotten up rather early to read that day). She looked at the defiantly posed woman on the bed. "Now I give you a choice. One: you leave this house and go back into the arms of whatever sent you here and join the very monsters you claim to hate, or two: you serve me for the rest of your life as an individual instead of a mindless beast."

Yana froze. Both would be a turn against her belief, but it was obvious that those were really her only two choices. The creature was still nearby, and she couldn't fight it in the condition she was in.

Remilia stood, seeing the deep thought on the face of the woman. "Take as long as you want to think about your answer," she said. "I'm not rushing you. After all, I do have an eternity to wait for it." She started for the door on this note, but Yana's voice stopped her by the door.

"You say I will live as an individual, but how I know that you are not lying to me?" the woman asked.

Remilia stopped. Slowly, she turned her head. "You will have to trust me." She left the room and closed the door. Satisfied that she had dealt effectively with the problem, she gave herself a mental cheer and returned to her room to continue reading. The book was getting to a _very_ good part.

Later that night, Remilia stood outside of the house, breathing in the cool night air. She could see the figure of some creature lurking in the shadows of the trees around the house. Remilia guessed it to be some sort of Ghoul from the excited breathing noises it made.

_'Come here, you little scourgeling. I've been wanting to try out my combat power,'_ Remilia thought, smirking. Her vampiric mind was aching for the thrill of killing.

The girl was considering going out to find and kill the beast herself when the door opened. Out into the dark night air walked an injured Yana, dressed in clothes she had found in the deceased woman's room. Those clothes happened to be a long-sleeved dark blue flowered blouse and a pair of gray pants. She had forced herself down the stairs and out the door.

"You shouldn't be up," Remilia stated, immediately moving to block Yana from fully leaving the house.

Yana allowed herself to smile, albeit uncomfortably. It was strange having an undead show at least a little care for her health. "I've come to my decision," she said. With a strained bow, she continued, "I would be more than happy to serve you, my mistress."

Remilia stood, completely taken aback by her quick reply. It was certainly not the one she had expected, either. Coughing and regaining her composure, Remilia said, "Fine then, but let's get you inside. The thing that put you here is still around in the woods over there." She ushered her new servant back indoors and led her back to her bed.

As Yana lay down, Remilia asked, "You said that you were part of the 'Scarlet Crusade', correct?"

Yana nodded and glanced at the pile of red colored clothing piled in the corner of the room.

"Then you will need a new name. That way the other Crusaders cannot track you with it," Remilia explained. She nodded. The name she had decided on was one that had belonged to someone special to her. "Your new name will be..."

* * *

Sakuya Izayoi, head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, called from the door leading to the balcony, "My lady, your bath has been run and is waiting."

Remilia shivered and turned around to face the woman. She smiled and said, "I've been waiting for that."

Sakuya nodded and stood aside to allow a path to be made indoors. The Devil took this path and entered her bedroom.

_'That was all a long time ago,'_ thought Remilia as she slipped out of her dress and into the warm water. A lot had happened after that, but Remilia's memory was too strained to continue. Maybe she would continue her trek through her memories later, maybe after her bath and a cup of tea...

* * *

Nsh oui knch nsh Czhüpzhüzhsh, ue rno ono ue chncnbta gassh oaü Nssh chnnshooneo. Gas ui asha sbfvnchnk, ono rno chnpüuo gassh olsh Cnseezhf pünvmach. Ue chncnbta ono ouia ui ou pbcpbcbf lp Inzaüuniai pzhüoacbf. Ue pzhüvbshka pbü cnsgash ruüa ibvtczhkaiaüvnchrnskzhü uü, aeo ue oush paccaspoask rnp shao. Ao iebc gassh imnsü, aeo gas vaeo gassh taüasoash.

* * *

END

Keshi: Well then. There it is. So... yeah. If you've got anything to point out, help with, or simply comment on, feel free to review! They are welcome!

Note: Keep in mind that the Common spoken here is not official Common nor parsed Common. It is a constructed Germanic language made specifically for use here and should not be taken to be a product of Blizzard. If you pay a bit of attention, you can probably make out the main idea of what the people in the first third of the chapter are saying (especially should you know some German/Dutch/Danish/etc).


	2. Chapter 2, The Killing Field

Keshi: I do not own Touhou or Warcraft. If I did, this would already be established lore and wouldn't be here. That's sorta given, isn't it?

Master and Servant - II, The Killing Field

* * *

Remilia sat in her private study in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. She was in her favorite seat, a nice, comfortable one that she could stretch out on and read. In fact, that was what she was doing. It was an old book she was reading, from her old world. Mainly Alliance propaganda, but that didn't matter. It was special to her as a gift.

'Sir Lothus raised his warhammer and called out with the fury of one thousand, "For the honor of the Holy Light and Lordaeron!" Into battle he charged against the overwhelming forces of the Horde. Before him the orcs scattered.'

_'Reminds me of that old man,'_ Remilia thought. She placed a book mark in her place and set the book on a side table. Her hands soon replaced the book with a warm cup of tea with blood mixed in. Sipping from this, she prepared herself for another delve into her memories.

Of course, she would have to pick back up from where she had left off.

* * *

A few weeks had passed since Sakuya had begun living at the secluded house in western Lordaeron. Remilia was surprise with how quickly Sakuya had recovered, and even more so with the way she had given up the Crusade so easily.

Although her new servant was able to walk around the house with ease, Remilia was still concerned with her well being. There was also the scourgeling wandering around, and although it may have been gone for a while, it could still come back at any time. As such, the vampire did all the work that required leaving the area around the house. If it should be daytime (as it now was), then she would make sure to go out wearing protective clothing.

It was such a task Remilia was performing one day in the forest surrounding the house. At this moment she was wearing a white dress, embroidered simply, with a split in between the legs to allow for easier movement. To protect her arms and head, she wore a brown-dyed wool coat with a large hood, despite the heavy clouds. On her hands were thick gloves, slits cut in for her claws to stretch out, for protection from both the sun and environment. On her feet she wore boots that the old woman had made for her when she first arrived at the house. She knelt by a small patch of herbs that Sakuya said were excellent for tea. The smell coming off of them gave the vampire a different opinion, however. Retching, Remilia picked some of the herbs and placed them in the basket she carried with her. _'This had better be the best damned tea ever,'_ she thought.

Suddenly, voices drifted into her hearing range. Ears perking up, Remilia turned her head in the direction of the sounds and headed in their direction, using her natural stealth abilities to stay silent through the forest.

She quietly moved through the brush at the edge of the treeline until the path leading to the house was visible on a miniature valley below. As she suspected, it wasn't long before she spotted a group of humans dressed in red making their way up the path. Keeping back in the leaves, Remilia listened in on the conversation.

"Are you sure lady Yana and her force were dispatched here?" asked one of the men to someone in the front of the procession, who Remilia assumed to be the leader.

"As sure as these orders say," the leader said without looking back, holding up a pack of papers. "She has yet to return to the Monastery since she was sent on a scouting mission and we need to find her. We need to check any buildings that we may see," he explained to the others following him. "According to the map, there should be a house at the end of this path. There's nowhere else around here that could be used as shelter, so we'll check there for her."

Remilia stiffened slightly. They were after Sakuya, but that wasn't the only thing that bothered her. The humans were wearing clothing very similar to what Sakuya had been wearing when they first met. _'Crusaders!'_ she inwardly exclaimed. Dropping the basket, Remilia sprinted back to the house. Within a few seconds, she was throwing the door open and hurrying inside.

"Sakuya! Get in here!" she yelled, pulling the hood from her head.

The woman was there almost instantaneously, which caused Remilia to jump a bit. "Yes, mistress?" she inquired with a bow.

With an instant recovery, Remilia ordered, "Grab your things. We have to leave, now."

Sakuya tilted her head in confusion. "And why have you so suddenly decided this?"

"Crusaders. They're out looking for you and this house is their first stop."

A flash of emotion flickered across the servant's face, too quick for even Remilia to register what it expressed (she still admired the speed at which Sakuya could control her facial muscles). Sakuya bowed again and replied with a smile, "I'll be prepared soon, my lady." She turned and headed upstairs.

While Sakuya was packing, Remilia started collecting things of her own. There was a pair of carved marbles she had found particularly interesting, a patch of herbs for medicine, a few books she had yet to read, some dried fruit, meat and bread from the kitchen for Sakuya, a skein of water, a tea pot, two cups and some dried tea leaves for Remilia, a small pouch for possibly needed extra carrying space, a rolled map of the nation, and some extra dresses and shoes for her to change into. After packing her clothes, she noticed a small pouch sitting on the table in the main room. Curious for it, as it hadn't been there before, she grabbed it and looked inside. Surprise came to her has she found that it was filled with all kinds of coin; Lordaeronian, Azerothian, Elven, even Dwarven. Remilia found it strange that she had never noticed it.

Shrugging, she added it to her collection.

"Sakuya, are you finished?" Remilia called upstairs while finishing placing the last of her belongings into a bag she had found and slinging it over her shoulder.

"I am, my lady," affirmed the servant, voice coming from behind Remilia.

Remilia gave another slight jump before turning to stare at Sakuya. The small vampire looked with disbelief at seeing her servant's belongings. "Is that all you're taking?" she asked, referring to the three things Sakuya held; a book, her old Crusader uniform and her spear.

Sakuya nodded. "This is all that I need."

Remilia shook her head and began talking as she stepped past Sakuya and started upstairs. "There's no way I'm letting you go out there without some extra clothes." She stopped halfway up the stairs and looked at her servant. "You're coming to pick out something for you to change into." The woman was wearing the same clothes she had when she declared allegiance to Remilia (and there was no way she would be wearing that uniform again), but had taken to wearing her hair down instead of in the tail that she had before, a holster on her thigh that was filled with three knives, and had another holster wrapped around her waist for easier carrying of her spear.

Sakuya gestured towards the door with one hand while sliding her spear through the holster with the other. "I apologize, mistress, but I don't need any extra clothing. And there isn't enough time to pack them, either. The Crusaders, my lady..."

Remilia groaned. "I'd forgotten about them," she said. "We'll have to find some later."

Sakuya nodded as her mistress stepped back to the floor. She opened the door and bowed in a gesture for Remilia to pass through.

Remilia approached the door, but something grabbed her attention. A small charm hanging from the wall above the door. "Sakuya, take that. It may be useful later on," she commanded. Sakuya bowed and complied, taking the charm down and slipping it into the pack on Remilia's shoulder.

The vampire flipped her hood back onto her head and left the house for the last time, Sakuya following behind. In the time it had taken the two to prepare, the Crusaders had steadily approached the home.

Remilia cursed under her breath as the humans came into view and took a sudden turn to the right into the forest, grabbing Sakuya by the hand and leading her along (this caused a slightly amusing reaction that Remilia could now notice. She wondered how Sakuya recovered from that).

"Spread out and surround the building. We need to secure it in case of infestation," came the voice of the Crusader leader as the two found a hiding spot in the forest. Remilia watched from a hidden location as the Crusaders surrounded the house, watching every possible exit, some watching large walls. The leader stepped to the front entrance and gestured for three of his men to come to him. "To front!" the man commanded, drawing his sword and leading the men into the house. Remilia decided to not wait and watch any longer.

"Let's go, Sakuya. We have to keep moving," she commanded, gesturing to her servant. The duo headed east away from the house, not sure where they were headed, as long as it was somewhere safe. Remilia regretted having to leave the house, the only one that she could remember living in, but in the end it was for the best.

The two walked at a brisk pace to make as much distance between themselves and the Crusaders at the house. They tried to keep under the cover of trees as much as possible to keep away from the occasional breakthrough of light through the clouds. Remilia noted that color the leaves and bark on the trees was a darker shade than when she had first started living at the old woman's house. She noted this as a curiosity.

The forest was quieter than she had anticipated. She hadn't really noticed it when she woke up to check on Sakuya (and therefore go out to find tea leaves), but the birds and squirrels were completely silent. In fact, she couldn't even see any in the trees. Remilia wondered if this was all a side effect of the Scourge's grip over this land.

Remilia and Sakuya came to a halt as they approached an exposed path. Hearing a distant clatter coming closer, Remilia pulled Sakuya down with her into a patch of overgrown vegetation. Sakuya remained silent, trusting her mistress' decision despite being unable to hear the approaching noise herself. It wasn't long before the Crusaders came charging past, obviously knowing that the house was recently abandoned (there was so much that they couldn't just make look old).

Remilia and Sakuya had taken an indirect path through the forest in order to avoid running into the Crusaders on a possible back-tracking. It hadn't worked as hoped, but at least they had avoided detection a second time. After the Crusaders were safely out of earshot, Sakuya leaned over to her mistress and whispered, "We cannot risk this again. It would in our best interest if we could find somewhere safe to stay until nightfall."

Remilia saw the use of this idea and agreed. Sakuya stated that there was a small town not too far away from where they were. She looked around on the path for anything she could remember as a marker for their position. She had to have found something, as she smiled and began crossing the path, asking politely for Remilia to follow.

Trees passed by, their inhabitants completely silent as the human and vampire passed underneath. It was probably an hour after noon by now. They hadn't covered too much ground, but they were making some progress, at least.

The clouds had started thinning out a bit more, making Remilia uncomfortable. She had learned that the sun wasn't as bad for her as her old caretaker had thought, but it was still very uncomfortable. Her skin would start to turn red as if it were over a fire. It would start to itch and burn soon afterwards. If she let too much of her body become exposed for too long, she would start to feel faint and weak, as her muscles wouldn't respond as well as they were known to (all of this knowledge had been gained through experimentation she conducted out of boredom one day).

To protect her eyes from the brightness, she was keeping her head down and hood pulled low so that she could only see Sakuya's feet in front of her. She had no idea in the slightest where they could possibly be by now, but that wasn't her problem to worry about. Besides, she did trust Sakuya. The woman had shown her loyalty in small ways during the time they had stayed at the house together, and had shown it in a very large way when she decided to follow Remilia instead of betraying her to the Crusaders (no matter how badly that might have ended for the humans). What was that smell? If Sakuya was willing to give up her chance to return to the Crusaders, Remilia was willing to trust her. The fact that Sakuya had even become loyal to her was still a matter on which she was confused. The smell was getting stronger

Sakuya's hand being extended downwards so that it would be visible to Remilia brought her out of her thoughts on Sakuya's loyalty and the horrible stench. The young vampire looked up, shielding her eyes from the over-glaring sun (although a human might find it only slightly bright). Looking out from the edge of the forest they had been traveling in, she could see a field of high grass stretching out for a small span before reaching the outskirts of a small town. It looked completely abandoned, except for a few shuffling figures sluggishly moving along at random.

Remilia tensed up as she immediately noticed what they were, making the connection between them and the horrendous odor she had been smelling for the past few minutes. She looked at Sakuya, who nodded. Remilia looked back at the town and flexed her fingers... claws, she would say. Her fingernails were unbreakable, as she had discovered, but they never grew. They were capable of tearing through flesh easily, as she had discovered at the expense of a young family of squirrels one evening.

Remilia set her pack on the ground and lowered herself into the grass, being very careful to make as little movement as possible. She didn't hear Sakuya following her, but she didn't mind. Her servant was still in no condition for this kind of activity.

Slowly, Remilia crept closer and closer to the village, the grass brushing against her clothing. She shut out her sense of smell. It had started to become overwhelming, the odor of long-rotten flesh. It wasn't long before she came to the edge of the grass where it met the shorter green. The town green didn't look as if it had been cared for in some time. Judging by the derelict look of the structures, it had been abandoned to the dead for that time. She watched as the mindless undead wandered patternlessly. Remilia fought the urge in snort in derision. These poor creatures wouldn't even be able to know that she was destroying them.

Suddenly, she leaped from the grass, claws extended and her face in an excited snarl. She would finally get to feel the power that she was told she has! It was gratifying as she ripped through the chest of a undead man loitering near where she had sprung from. There was no blood, but bone and flesh flew out in a wide pattern. Remilia withdrew her hand, breathing heavily as the now re-dead creature slumped to the ground and collapsed. She looked at her claws, some meat still caught in between them and her fingertips. Flicking it off, she turned her attention to the rest of the village. Her appearance had started up a moan-fest from the zombies. The entire town was descending on her, a dozen or so coming out of the buildings to add to the score already present.

Grinning viciously, Remilia braced her legs and pushed forward, eager to tear more flesh. She met the foremost undead with her arm extended, once again tearing through its chest. This time, however, she decided to push up, lifting the creature off of the ground despite her small stature. It gurgled and pawed uselessly at her arm. With a laugh, she grabbed its spinal cord and threw the creature aside without losing its grip on the bone. The was a satisfying rip as the central bone structure came tearing out of the rotting flesh. She let it drop to the ground and studied its steadily approaching comrades.

Charging into the mass, Remilia glorified in the rush that this was granting to her. The pure pleasure of combat was immense, digging into her very being. She wove between the legs of a larger zombie, digging her claws into its calf. Its rotten muscles parted easily to allow her access to the creature's lower leg bones, which she squeezed and shattered. The undead collapsed to one knee as it lost capability to stand in the leg. Remilia stood up on the other side of the creature. She pierced through the back of the creature's neck and reached into its skull. With some force, she pulled the creature over her head into a collision with a zombie located on its other side. She twisted her body on one leg to bring her claws tearing across the exposed stomach of another zombie, its long rotten entrails pouring out onto the group in a reeking heap.

The spin threatened to lower her hood, but her reflexes saved Remilia's face. Without losing momentum, she pulled her hood back tight and continued with her new play. Another undead had closed the distance between her little ring of corpses, its arms reaching out as it moaned for her death. Remilia reached out and grabbed its arms, quickly steadying it as she kicked out, shattering one of its legs to bring it down. She pulled its arms forward, letting her head fall to bring the top of her skull into contact with the creature's face. A wet crunch echoed painlessly throughout her skull. What remained of the beast's rotten teeth shattered and fell down its throat into its open stomach and from there to the ground. Remilia let the thing drop fully and turned her attention from it to a group of six undead that had gotten closer.

This one would be tricky, she decided, looking them over quickly for a way to take them all out. However, her planning was interrupted as a spear suddenly found itself in the side on the lead zombie, vibrating as it stuck into the creature's bone. Remilia watched with surprise as Sakuya leaped out of the grass after the spear. The woman landed on the shaft, the creature's weight counteracting her own. With astounding balance, she stood on one leg on the shaking surface and spun with her other leg extended, aiming for the zombie immediately following the front. She knocked it from its feet, its head slamming into the ground, stunning it.

Sakuya flipped from the spear, grabbing and pulling it from the moaning undead monster's side. She braced herself when she hit the ground, but continued her spree, stabbing the spear up into the creature's head and pulling it down to her left. The zombie flew forward, smashing its face upon hitting the ground.

Remilia recovered from her surprise of Sakuya's appearance and joined in. She used the freshly fallen zombie as a springboard to launch herself at the third undead in the group, knocking it from its feet with her on top of it. She let out a scratchy growl that grew into a roar and started tearing the beast's face apart. It struggled helplessly against her as she tore through its flesh to its skull. Upon exposing the bone, she drew her arm back and let go a pounding force from her punch. The creature spasmed and went limp as its brain smashed under the vampire's strength.

Sakuya withdrew her spear from the now re-dead creature's skull and stood to meet the fourth of the attackers. She struck with the spear so that the tip would slid easily between the creature's ribs and twisted, locking the spear in place. Sakuya pulled it forward and kicked, the blades of the spear hooks cutting through the dead creature's brittle ribcage. Small shards of bone splattered out of the wound, some sticking to the woman's face in blood. She paid this no mind and turned her attention back to the zombie that she had kicked over to begin with, which was starting to pull itself back to its feet. Sakuya flipped her spear so that she was able to strike down and implanted it into the rising beast's neck. This served to pin in back down. Following this effort up, she brought her foot up and smashed it down into the back of the creature's head, shattering the skull and caving in its head.

Remilia stood from the mutilated corpse of the undead and spun to meet another. It howled as it lurched forward, arms extended. Remilia deftly weaved around its reach to its side and burst her hand into its belly. This did little to actually hurt the creature, so Remilia ripped through this one, too. Rotten organs spilled onto the grass as she tore away the flesh holding them in. Remilia was sure she would be vomiting from the smell if she was still allowing that sense to work correctly.

Sakuya, having killed the grounded zombie, searched for her next target. The last zombie in this group inched closer to her, its left leg dragging from a previous injury. She grabbed the shaft of the spear in both hands and leaped, using the spear like a pole to spin her as she kicked. Her leg collided with the final undead's head, breaking its neck and throwing it to the ground.

Remilia backed away from her latest victim and found herself next to Sakuya, who pulled her spear out of a prone undead corpse. The human woman was slightly winded from the sudden exertion, but her mistress felt perfectly fine.

"I was thinking that I was going to take on the entire town by myself," Remilia said with a grin, looking up to the woman while never really taking her eye off of the rest of the undead.

Sakuya peeked at her young mistress from the corner of her eye and returned to watching the oncoming horde. "I did not think it best to let my lady spend all of her energy on these beasts," she replied.

Remilia laughed. "I appreciate your concern. How about you? You seem to be in much better health." she observed.

"I was perfectly healthy after the first week of your care, my lady. You refused to allow me to exert myself in any way."

"I was worried about you."

"You flatter me, my lady."

A loud roar broke the two from their conversation. The horde had started to close in, completely surrounding the two. Seeing that there was no more time for talk, they sprang into battle.

The mistress and her servant became a whirlwind of violence, claws flashing and spear biting. They wove through the undead mass, destroying those who had very little defense against such raw power combined with the refined skill of a former Crusader elite.

Sakuya implanted her spear into the hollow chest cavity of an older undead woman. Using all of her arm strength, she pulled her spear up and bent her back, flipping the lighter-than-average creature over to slam into a second. The force of the flipped undead shattered several bones in the other, the breaks tearing through flesh as it collapsed under the weight.

Remilia entertained herself with an undead of her own stature. She grinned fiercely, fangs catching some of the sun's light reflected from a nearby window. There was a moist ripping sensation in her fingers, like tearing through a piece of wet paper. Some of the creature's remaining blood poured from the newly formed gash across its chest. This didn't faze the mindless beast, which continued to reach for Remilia. She ducked under the clawing arms and rushed the legs, flipping it over her back. Standing and spinning, Remilia raised her foot and stomped on the undead's throat, shattering its esophagus and neck bone. As it was paralyzed, Remilia left the creature to sputter as it lay there useless.

However, she happened to turn right into the waiting arms of a massive undead, probably a blacksmith during his former life. It wrapped its arms around her and lifted, the sudden force causing Remilia's hood to fall down. The vampire screamed in pain as she felt the sun burrow into her skin. So much flesh exposed at once quickened the process, immediately burning. Her strength started slipping away, leaving her little more than a girl struggling against a giant.

Sakuya was withdrawing her spear from the corpse of another fallen undead when her lady screamed. "Mistress Remilia!" she shouted out of fear for her mistress, turning towards the source. Upon seeing the gigantic undead, she let her reflexes fetch the trio of knives from her thigh holster. With a strong flick of her hand they sailed, one finding the creature's head while the others found its side. The massive undead roared and dropped the young vampire, who immediately scrambled to pull her hood back over her head.

The beast turned its attention to the silver haired woman, knives sticking out of its side, blood dripping from their handles. It roared again and lurched forward, surprisingly fast for its size and state. Sakuya backed away, well aware that it could easily overpower her. She kept an eye on the remaining weaker undead as well, making sure none were sneaking up on her.

Remilia panted, resting on her knees. Her entire head burned as if she had left it sitting in a roaring fireplace. Shakily, she pushed herself to her feet and stood. Every nerve in her body was screaming for her to find a very, very dark corner and stay there forever, but Sakuya was in danger now. She would overcome this if she could ensure that her servant would be there to watch over her when it came time to rest for the day.

Remilia turned to face the back of the giant creature and started running towards it. With a powerful kick, she leaped from the ground and wrapped her arms and legs around the creature to steady herself on its back. Mentally preparing herself for the coming taste, Remilia bit into the rotten flesh of the creature's neck and tore. Large chucks of meat were stripped each time she pulled her head back, large amounts of blood gushing out from the wounds. The beast roared in pain and anger. It was too stupid to pry her limbs off of its torso, instead trying to remove her by reaching around its back and grabbing her. Its arms were to thick for it to do this, leaving Remilia safe as she attacked.

Sakuya took advantage of the distraction and charged, yelling, "Jump, milady!" Remilia complied with the warning and pushed herself from the creature. A mouthful of rotten flesh from the creature's neck went with her. Disgusted, she spat onto the ground as soon as she landed.

Sakuya pushed forward with her shoulder, ramming full forcedly into the creature's chest. They both fell over from this, Sakuya thudding against the beast's torso before rolling off. She seemed to fly to her feet as she grabbed her spear which had fallen when she had collided with the creature. Not wanting to waste this advantage, she brought the tip of the spear down hard through the center of the creature's putrid skull. Twisting the spear to lock the points under the bone, she pulled, tearing a goodly sized hole in tis face. Some of the creature's brain stuck to the spear hooks, mushy bits of matter that dripped from the metallic tip.

The undead stopped struggling as it returned to death. Remilia joined Sakuya and together they examined the remaining zombies. The rest would be easy compared to that last monstrosity. Within about a minute, they had completely cleared the town of all undead inhabiting it, making it safe for resting.

As the last of the zombies fell, Remilia gave in to the searing pain in her face and head that had started setting off nerves in the rest of her body. Her entire body was aching and burning from the her head being exposed to direct sunlight. "I need to get inside," she managed, her tightened face muscles making it hard for her to talk.

Sakuya nodded as she replaced her spear into its holster on her waist. She gently wrapped her arms around her mistress' shoulders and led her forward.

The loss of power was catching up with the vampire, making her completely exhausted. Her servant wasn't doing much better, but at least she could walk without stumbling. Now that there was no more danger, Remilia's balance had started deteriorating. She began tripping over small stones that stuck out of the ground, nearly falling if it hadn't been for Sakuya keeping her steady.

Sakuya led her into a large building with a sign out front that read _Silver Deer Inn_. They walked up the creaking stairs into a dark common room, only lit from the door and light coming between the cracks in the boards covering the windows. Sakuya covered her nose and her eyes started watering, so Remilia (who still hadn't reactivated her sense of smell) guessed that the building had a worse stench than the village.

Many of the tables were overturned. It seemed as if they were used as a blockade against the door. It didn't work, obviously, as there was a forced hole in the middle of the makeshift barrier. Dried blood stained the wooden floor a dark brown color. A lumpy pile of shapes in the center of the room was what Remilia guessed to be the source of the smell. With her dark vision, she was able to see them clearly, but she didn't think Sakuya would appreciate being told what they were.

"This building makes me nauseous," Sakuya stated, pulling back out. Remilia followed, understanding of the woman's decision. They instead chose a small house on the other side of the green.

As they passed back by the field of undead corpses, they noticed that flies and scavengers had moved in on the carnage quickly. A chorus of caws from the scores of crows started up as they passed, apparent that they believed the two women to be a threat to their food. Remilia almost fell after catching her foot on a stray dismembered limb that she had torn from one of the undead.

Sakuya pushed open this door into the house. This building was much more welcoming, as it didn't reek of rancid flesh. It was dark inside, as there was only one window that was covered by a large empty bookcase. A simple bed was tucked into the corner by the window, a small nightstand resting at the foot of the bed. On the other side of the room, a small fireplace was nestled into the wall. A small wooden table with a set of chairs and a burning candle lamp sat near the door.

Sakuya led her mistress to the bed and helped her be seated. Remilia was safely out of the sun, so she pulled her hood down and touched her face. Just coming in contact with the burns was enough to send a jolt of pain through her entire body.

Sakuya noticed her mistress jump when she touched her face. With a smile, she said, "I will return shortly with our belongings, my lady."

Remilia nodded halfheartedly, already stripping off her gloves and boots.

Sakuya left the house, making sure to shut the door behind her for further protection of her mistress.

Remilia lay her gloves and boots on the nightstand and looked at the ceiling. That monster had definitely reminded her that she did have weaknesses. The sun, deeply running water, broken holly... they were three of the things that her old caretaker had warned her about. She would have to be more careful with how she approached situations like that. If Sakuya hadn't been there, that would have been the end of her supposedly immortal life (at the time, Remilia was still iffy on that part).

It wasn't long before the door creaked open to reveal a returning Sakuya. She not only had Remilia's sack and her own possessions and knives, but she also carried a handful of a silvery plant. Remilia recognized it from the old woman's lessons. It was called silverleaf, and was very useful for treating all sorts of injuries; cuts, bruises, scrapes, burns, et cetera. She mentally berated herself for not taking some of it with the rest of the herbs she had.

Sakuya set their belongings on the table and approached Remilia. She knelt down in front of her and smiled in an attempt to comfort her mistress. "This may hurt a little at first, my lady, but your face will cool down afterwards," she said. She took some of the silverleaf from her hand and stuck it in her mouth. After a few seconds of chewing, she spat it back out.

Remilia grimaced as soon as the leaves entered Sakuya's mouth, but she knew that it made it work better and easier to apply. She closed her eyes as Sakuya took a clump of the herb and touched it to Remilia's cheek.

A sudden jolt of pain sprang up from the point of application, but she had been expecting this. She held in the reflexive yelp, only allowing a strained groan. Her hands tightened into themselves, trying to grip something.

Sakuya smiled assuringly and started rubbing the medicine so that it absorbed into her mistress' face. Once only flecks of leaf remained, she took another patch and started on the other cheek.

Remilia dealt with the second wave of pain more easily than the first. The first had completely dissipated, leaving only a dull warmth in her skin.

Sakuya finished her cheeks and moved to her forehead, pushing up the young vampire's hair with one hand and began applying the last of the herb with her other. As it started drying, she smiled. "You look much better now."

Remilia sighed in relief as the burn finally reduced to an equal warmth. Her body no longer burned and itched. "Thank you, Sakuya," she said, laying back on the bed slowly.

Sakuya smiled and stood to deliver a bow. "It was my pleasure, my lady."

The energy that had propelled Remilia during the fight has expired and exhaustion started to overcome her. "I'm going to-*yawn*-rest until night arrives." Her eyelids started sliding down and the rest came out as a faint mumble. "Hang the charrrrrrm..."

Sakuya nodded and replied, "As you wish." She took the charm from Remilia's pack and hung it on a small peg above the door. With her mistress sleeping very soundly and the house protected from undead, she now felt that they were safe for the time being. Knowing that they would be awake and on their feet through the night, she decided to follow Remilia's example and slept, using some of the spare clothes from the house as an improvised bed.

* * *

Remilia ran in a large, empty field, laughing loudly and happily. She was having the most wonderful time running under the sunny, cloudless sky. Alongside her ran a laughing girl with blonde hair tied off to one side with a beautiful red bow.

Laughing, Remilia turned to look at her companion. Her breath caught immediately as she saw the girl's face. Or lack thereof. The girl had no face at all, only a blank slate of flesh. Despite her lack of face, Remilia could sense a large, warm smile there. Deciding it didn't bother her too much, Remilia turned to keep running along.

They eventually found their way around to the edge of the field where a small house was situated. Around the side of the house wound a small stream, clear and clean. On the porch of the house sat a man wearing a broad rimmed hat to keep the sun out of his eyes, despite not having any, like the girl. He looked proud as he watched the two girls play.

Remilia decided to run back into the center of the field. Laughing, she enjoyed the feeling of the wind rushing by and the ground supporting her feet. She stopped upon reaching the center of the field and turned. However, the blonde girl had not followed her. Even after looking around her, Remilia couldn't even see her. In fact, the entire house at the edge of the field had disappeared.

Remilia looked around, confused by this turn of events. It was ruining her day. Calling out to see if she could get anyone's attention was useless, as the field was completely empty. She was becoming more and more upset by the second. She wanted someone to come back and play with her again. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

Suddenly, everything was dark. Remilia slowly opened her eyes, adjusting to the dim light. She lay there in the bed, groggy from sleep. The dream was already fading.

Stretching, the vampire sat up and examined the house. The table lamp was lit to allow the already awake Sakuya the light she needed to see. Remilia looked at Sakuya, who was sitting in one of the table's chairs with her spear propped by the door behind her. The woman was reading the book she had brought with her. The front of the book had a strange combination of letters showing the title. Looking closer, Remilia could make it out, but still didn't understand what _VUSHA MNSÜSHAEVBFZHÜ _meant.

Sakuya noticed that Remilia had awoken and shut the book.

"What is that?" Remilia asked, indicating the book with a tilt of her head.

Sakuya held the book up and looked at the title. She replaced it back in her lap and answered, "I found it in one of the rooms at the house, my lady. It seems to be a cipher of some kind and it caught my attention. I believe it may hold some important information that the Crusade should not be allowed access to."

Remilia nodded, but she wondered why she had never found the book. This along with the sudden appearance of the money pouch was starting to make her curious about the nature of that house. She mentally shrugged. It was too late to go back to investigate. They had to continue moving and find somewhere safe.

Remilia swung her feet over the edge of the bed to rest them on the floor and felt her face. The burns had long faded and her skin had returned to its average temperature (which wasn't very hot). She brushed the dried leaves from her face and looked at her servant. "There's food in my bag for you. Put my tea on," she ordered, reaching over to grab her boots.

Sakuya stood and bowed as her mistress began securing her boots. "As you wish, my lady."

As she was turning to get the materials from Remilia's bag, the vampire stood and headed for the door. "I'll be back soon," Remilia said, opening the door and stepping out into the night.

While she had gotten up with the intention of finding food for herself, she recalled the silence in the forest when they had been traveling to this village. Then she remembered the crows. If they didn't go too far, she might get a decent meal out of a few. Maybe not a tasty one, but decent.

Mind decided on her supper, Remilia turned and started towards the forest. She moved so quietly that only something with her level of hearing would have been able to make it out. Past the now torn apart corpses of the undead, she went into the tall grass. It wasn't long before she was back into the forest, keeping her hearing and smell acute to help her better locate her breakfast.

She stopped at every tree that she couldn't make out the top of, listening and sniffing the air for the scent of crow. It was some time before she smelled anything but foliage. Remilia came to a large, heavily foliated tree and listened. She could make out the occasional twitch of feathers and could smell a definite bird smell. It smelled off somehow, but she figured it might be a left over odor from the corpses.

Remilia dug her claws into the tree and started climbing, the only sound the faint crunch of the bark breaking under claws. When she could, she used branches to help brace her legs. In less than a minute, she was halfway up the tree. Her ears told her that the birds were only a few more levels up, and her throat reminded her to hurry up.

She smiled as she saw the first nest. Carefully, she placed her hand on the branch. Once she was sure that it was stable enough for her, Remilia followed with her other hand and feet. Slowly, she inched forward towards the sleeping birds. Their black feathers were perfectly clear to her in the dark. Finally, she was close enough. She reached out...

A loud caw broke the silence. Remilia turned her head to see a group of crows perched a few branches up, previously hidden by leaves. The birds she had gotten close to catching all woke up, but they didn't flee. Instead, they turned their eyes towards her, their bright white eyes...

Weren't crows supposed to have dark eyes? Remilia froze, realizing that the offness of the smell was the smell of something already dead. It clicked together and she felt foolish for not realizing it sooner. All of the birds had ingested flesh infected by the Plague of Undeath. Their small bodies meant that the infection took far less time to take hold of the infected.

At once, all of the crows cawed. Remilia knew that she wouldn't make it out easily if the number of crows she saw earlier in the day were nearby. She had to act fast. Knowing she could make this kind of fall easily, she simply slipped off of the branch. She heard a burst of feathers and caws as she started falling. The ground was hard, but her stronger body had no issue compensating with the collision. Almost as soon as she hit, she was running back through the forest, into the tall grass field. The tall vegetation parted easily for her to pass. Overhead, she could hear the undead crows falling behind, but she knew they would still be able to catch her if she didn't make it back.

Rushing to be back into the house, she jumped over the field of corpses and landed in front of the door. She threw it open and hurried in, shutting it securely behind her. The shaking of the door closing caused Sakuya's spear to clatter to the ground.

Sakuya look up in surprise at her mistress' frenzied return. "Is everything well, my lady?" she asked, standing from caring for the tea pot on the fireplace to retrieve her spear and place it back against the wall.

"I didn't realize the crows would be affected by the plague," Remilia explained. Sighed, she continued, "I suppose I should have."

Outside the caws of the crows became louder as they got closer to the house. Sakuya's head perked up at the sound. She looked around, making sure there were no exposed entrances into the house besides the fire. Satisfied that there weren't any, she let her breath go.

Remilia stepped away from the door and sat on the bed. "They can't get in here. The charm doesn't just protect the door, so don't worry about them using another way in." This seemed to be helpful, as Sakuya relaxed even more. "How is my tea?" Remilia inquired.

Sakuya knelt back down by the fireplace. "It will be ready soon, my lady."

Remilia made an observation that she had made times before at the old house. Sakuya tended to say 'my lady' or 'my mistress' (or 'milady' if she was feeling pressured) quite often. Almost every sentence, in fact. It was almost amusing sometimes.

"Good," she said in response. The crows outside had quieted down, so she decided to read in the meantime.

Out of her pack she pulled a copy of _The Battle for Northshire: An Account_. It was an interesting historical tale from the first war that told of the orcish raid and destruction of Northshire Abbey from the mouth of a cleric who was there at the time.

Remilia didn't know why, but she found historical books like this to be extremely more interesting than the fictional ones that dominated a good portion of the old house's shelves, especially if they had something to do with war or combat.

She had started reading about the beginning of the raid into the dungeons under the abbey that were used for holding orcs when Sakuya announced that the tea was prepared. Remilia closed her book as Sakuya started pouring the boiling water into one of the tea leaf-filled cups that had been brought with.

The vampire accepted the cup and placed it near her face, letting the wonderful scent run directly into her nose. Despite the pleasure this brought her, she was still disappointed. She would have loved to have mixed some crow blood in with the tea.

As if sensing her mistress' thoughts, Sakuya nodded. She unfastened one of her knives and approached the bed.

Remilia looked up and watched Sakuya suspiciously. "What do you intend to do with that?" she asked.

Sakuya sat down on the bed next to Remilia and asked politely for the cup Remilia to hold the cup out. Remilia, now realizing what Sakuya was doing, did so without asking anything.

Sakuya took her knife and started stabbing it into the tips of her fingers in order to draw some blood. She flinched slightly each time it broke her skin, but never stopped. She let the blood run down her fingers and drop into her mistress' cup, the red spreading out in the brown liquid.

Remilia watched, once again mesmerized by dripping human blood.

Sakuya picked up one of the pieces of clothing left behind by the former inhabitants of the house and used it to cover the small pierces on her fingers. Remilia pulled the cup back to her and stared into it. The blood was spreading out, some sinking to the bottom. The water had cooled enough to be drinkable, so Remilia lifted the cup to allow her to do so.

The taste of human blood mixed with the tea was outstanding. Her mouth felt like it was bathing in pure pleasure. Her eyes widened at this sensation.

Sakuya stood and walked over to the table, where she had lain out her own food. She still held the shirt to her finger to contain the bleeding. The cloth had turned red around her fingertips, but it wasn't spreading. They were only small cuts, after all.

She sat down in the chair and smoothed out her skirt before starting on her luxurious meal of water, bread, apple and dried meat. Remilia watched her servant eat while taking small sips out of the divinely flavored drink. This was the third time she had ingested human blood, and this was far better than that she had gotten from the old woman or the dead man.

Sakuya sat in the most high mannered way Remilia had learned from the old woman (although she had never really bothered to make use of this education at the time). Her elegance in eating her meal was admirable. She had even managed to find a lap napkin in this low-class home.

The woman appeared to have felt her mistress' eyes on her. She set down the piece of bread she had been eating and wiped her hands on the napkin. She removed that napkin from her lap and stood up out of the chair.

With her serene expression, Sakuya said, "It is not right if I am allowed to eat but not my mistress." She sat down on the bed next to Remilia, rolling up her own sleeve.

Remilia set the cup down and watched with interest as Sakuya's skin became visible. With her vampiric eyes, she could see. The blood traveling through the woman's veins seemed as a deep red color, almost glowing. Every time her heart beat, Remilia watched as the arm gave off the vibrations. She had never looked at a human like this. It was almost frightening to. Maybe her exposure to Sakuya's blood in the tea had made her more aware of it.

Sakuya held her arm up, inviting her mistress to enjoy.

"I won't take... too much," Remilia said, focused on the arm. She grabbed on gently and lifted it to her mouth. Her fangs slid through the skin with ease, puncturing straight into the woman's blood stream.

Sakuya flinched as her arm was pierced, but she kept it still. Reflexively pulling away would be worse than dealing with the loss.

Remilia's mind exploded with ecstasy. Drinking blood like this felt so _right_. Her throat relaxed, even though she had never realized that it was tightened.

"M-my lady..." came Sakuya's strained voice.

Remilia returned to attention, drawing out of her euphoria. She withdrew her fangs from her servant's arm and licked her fangs to get the last of the blood off of them. It was then that she realized that the bed was wet between them.

She had let most of the blood run down her chin, dripping in onto her dress and the bed. Remilia groaned in discomfort for her dress being wet.

Sakuya stood and wrapped the shirt she had used for her fingers around the two small holes in her arm. Her face was wet, and Remilia could smell sweat coming from the rest of her. Remilia decided that she would need to be more careful with her servant.

Sakuya took the napkin from the table and returned to the bed to wipe the blood from Remilia's chin.

Remilia noticed that Sakuya was preparing to warn her about making such a mess out of herself, but she had already been informed of this. "I already know I'm messy. It's not something I can help," she said as Sakuya pulled the napkin away.

Sakuya bowed her head in acceptance. "As you say, my lady." The woman stood to place the now blood-stained napkin back on the table. She walked to the door.

"What are you doing?" Remilia asked.

"I am checking if the crows are still outside, my lady" Sakuya answered, grasping the doorknob and twisting. As soon as she pushed open the door, a crowish cacophony started outside. She shut the door and nodded. "It seems we will have to travel during the day again tomorrow."

Remilia groaned and lay back. They hadn't covered much ground that day, and she had been hoping to make that up during the night. She hated traveling during the day. They spent a few more hours reading in relative silence before finally drifting off to sleep in preparation for the next day of travel.

* * *

Remilia yawed and stretched out of her chair. She had been sitting there for some time. Maybe she should stretch her legs for a while. She set her now empty tea cup on her side table next to her book and stood. She walked to the doors leading out of her personal library and looked back at the book on the table. _'I'll have time for you another day, old man,'_ she thought with a smile.

Remilia pushed on the decorated double door to open it, letting in a gush of cold night air. She smiled and stepped outside onto her balcony overlooking the Misty Lake, closing the door as she did. Behind her to her left were the doors leading to her actual bedroom, but she wanted to look out over Gensokyo for a few minutes.

The vampire leaned against the balcony's rails, taking in the sights of a Gensokyo at night. It was magnificently different from Lordaeron, but that was part of what she liked about this land. Here one could hear animals and the youkai of the night out and about in their business. Lordaeron had been abandoned by most native animal life when Sakuya and she had traveled across it, though she understood that some animals came back later. The silence had been deafening.

Yawning, Remilia rubbed her eyes. On the horizon, she could see the sun peaking up. She straightened and turned to her bedroom doors. All this reminiscence was tired for her. Her bed would be very welcome.

* * *

Nsh oui knch, ue ine Üavucua ioacho ash oübsh nsshcae vuk ruüa ecnbzhü. Oush rnükrnsk ono oas rnpash ui ushkübeashoa. Gas vaeo paeoash vuk oas ashai knchi, nshk gas iebc eshashash gausha ionüeuo. Ruü ebshkihzhk rnh nbe chnnshomashko gassh. Nsh chuioaknch gas pash ash raüo mzh nsshcae snchash ras.

* * *

Keshi: Hey look, an update! Wow! Took me long enough. Imma try to keep up on this now, so expect to see more in the future.


	3. Chapter 3, A Burned Field

Keshi: Welcome to , where you will rarely find something owned by the author of the story. Technically, I don't even completely own my own characters in this story, as they are made specifically for the Warcraft world.

Master and Servant – 3, A Burned Field

* * *

Outside, the sun burned brightly. It was another beautiful day in Gensokyo... which Remilia was of course spending asleep. Why would she be up and about at such an hour? What a preposterous idea.

She lay snug in her bed, wrapped warmly in her blankets. Her doors were closed and locked as to prevent any sun from shining in to harm her. Her dreams were very active, spurred on by the high amount of reminiscing she had been doing last night.

For her, the empty forests of Lordaeron were as real as anything.

* * *

The sun once again shined brightly overhead through the canopy of tree limbs, much to Remilia's discomfort. They had been lucky when they awoke that morning that the crows had gotten hungry and left for fresh and vulnerable food. That had been a worry of hers before going to sleep. She was afraid that they would have opened the door just to find a swarm of undead crows cawing for their flesh. It would have made sacrificing the night completely useless.

Sakuya once again led the way, Remilia watching from under a different colored hood. She had changed into a different one of her outfits that morning. She still wore the same boots and gloves, but she now wore a hooded dress with a deep shade of violet. The dress had an interesting floral pattern dyed from the bottom of the dress and winding up to the knee that she found pleasant, making it her first choice for the day.

They were once again in a forest with heavily overgrown plants surrounding them, but they actually traveled on a path now. Sakuya said that there was a large town a few hours away from the last that could serve as another area to wait for night, but that still wasn't enough to comfort Remilia. She hated any time that they were forced to move during the day, but they couldn't afford to waste any more time.

It was still quiet, and Remilia was starting to come to the conclusion that all of Lordaeron had been abandoned by animal life. There were a few exceptions, such as those crows (even though they were undead now), but they were so far and in between that they were of no consequence.

The two walked in relative silence, which suited Remilia just fine. It made it easier to hear any undead that should approach them, even if her hearing would reveal them long before they would come upon them.

An hour passed in that same silence, both focused on walking. Sakuya had to know where they were going. She said there was another town on their way east by the name of Brill. It would be safe to stop at.

Remilia raised her head slightly (as to not expose it to sun) to look at Sakuya. The woman apparently felt her gaze, as she turned her head to look at her mistress. Maybe they should strike up some conversation.

"My lady, what do you suppose we will do once we are finally free from the undead?" the servant asked, turning her head back forward.

Remilia put a finger to her chin. She hadn't really given it thought. She supposed she would have a large mansion built for her to live in. She could live there quietly, servants caring for her with Sakuya as their head.

Remilia told these ideas to Sakuya, who nodded and said, "That would be a grand future." She gave a small bow while still walking. "I shall do everything in my power to ensure that it is so."

Remilia smiled and continued following her servant. They couldn't be more than an hour from Brill, now. Maybe she should look into getting some sort of carriage, too. If she had to walk everywhere all the time, she would go insane.

Silence settled yet again. There was no sound save the crunching of their footsteps, no smell save that of Sakuya and the plants. Remilia kicked through the short grass that had grown over the formerly dirt path.

_Ksh, ksh, ksh._

Remilia's sharp ears perked at the sound. It sounded like footsteps on dry leaves, but not theirs. She searched around, but there was nothing to see through the thick foliage.

With that option obviously useless, the vampire decided to instead try and catch a scent. Luckily, the wind was blowing her way from the source of the sound. Over the smell of the flora, she could also pick out the odor of unwashed human men.

Whoever they were were still some distance away to the right of the group, but they were on a collision course with one another.

"Sakuya, I want to stop at the next intersection," she commanded. _'Maybe I can get a look at living humans other than a Sakuya this time,'_ she thought. She didn't want to fight these men, though, instead wanting to just watch them.

Sakuya nodded and affirmed that they would stop as soon as they found one.

Only a few minutes passed before a crosspath came into sight. Remilia approached and whispered to Sakuya that they would be going into the brush instead of crossing the path.

Sakuya, who could now hear the men talking, found no reason to offer another suggestion.

Remilia moved with the grace of a vampire, making absolutely no sound as she did so. Sakuya's training showed as she kept beside her mistress, just barely louder (but still inaudible to a human's ears).

The two peeked carefully through the leaves, catching sight of the other group. It just so happened to be a group of eight men.

Eight men wearing scarlet red tabards.

They were just idly chatting, but Remilia noticed that they kept a very close watch on everything around them at once. The sign of highly trained, highly experienced men. These couldn't be some simple zealots then.

One of the men stood slightly apart from the group. His dark hair was rather short, letting his strong face be revealed. The man moved with more power than any of the others. The spear he carried in a sling on his waist seemed to be as much a part of him as his own arm. He might be the group's leader.

It was still interesting for Remilia to see living men. Everyone she had seen before had been dead, trying to kill her, or a Sakuya. Remilia wondered what it would be like to meet some of the races she had read about before in her books; dwarves, elves, orcs, gnomes, maybe even others.

Remilia noticed her servant's muscles tighten in anticipation. She hoped that Sakuya wouldn't react badly to seeing some of her old comrades. Remilia started to think that Sakuya might be psychic, as she looked at her and smiled in assurance.

The men were soon safely out of sight. Remilia stepped out of the brush first, gesturing for Sakuya to follow. The woman stared down the path after the men.

"Friends of yours?" Remilia asked.

"Apprentices," the former chief assassin replied.

"Is that so?"

Sakuya shut her eyes tight. "Each one was trained by me. They are the future of the Scarlet Crusade's assassins. Especially the man with the spear."

"How so?" Remilia wondered now if they would eventually have to deal with Sakuya's past.

"I was training him to eventually take my place as chief assassin. He was... is ruthless, heartless, unforgiving, bloodthirsty. The most dangerous man I have ever met. He is perfect for the title." She looked back up. "The Crusade would not send him out to patrol for just any reason. He is searching for me."

Remilia turned down the path they were to continue along. "Then we'll have to put as much distance between us as possible."

Sakuya nodded with a slight bow and took the lead, her attention only slightly lingering on the other path.

The next hour was spent walking in relative silence. Remilia was getting tired of all this walking. Maybe there would be a day where she could just have other people take her places instead of having to go there herself.

Eventually she noticed the landscape start to change. The ground was becoming more grass-covered and clear of trees. Looking up, she saw the reason. They were finally approaching Brill.

Remilia peered past Sakuya to the nearby town. It was of decent size – far larger than the small village they encountered the day before. Remilia began breathing through her nose to search for the scent of any scourgelings in the town. Nose in the air, all she caught was the smell of Sakuya and leaves. She found the lack of any other smell strange.

Since she was relatively sure that the town was free of anything that might be a danger, Remilia allowed Sakuya to continue leading her.

The town really was as abandoned as it smelled, Remilia noted as they stepped into the town square. Now that they were actually in the town, she could very faintly smell the rodents living in the buildings. No humans had lived here for a long time.

There were some signs of combat; a bolt imbedded in a wall, ruptured areas in the road, long-dried blood on the ground, among others.

Sakuya looked up to the sky with one hand shielding her eyes. "We still have several hours of daylight left yet, my lady. Is there anywhere you would like to rest?"

Remilia considered the buildings on their street. Most were small houses that would have once been inhabited by families. Now she could stay in whichever one she wanted. "Let's stay there," she said, pointing to a decently sized house. It seemed the most welcoming building on the street.

Sakuya nodded and approached the door so that she could hold it open for her lady. The house was simple yet cozy. It reminded Remilia vaguely of their old house in the forest, comforting her. She set her bag of a table in the middle of the room and took the protection charm from within it. She handed this to Sakuya, who set it on the ledge above the door to give it its best area of effect.

Remilia walked around the room closing and locking the shutters to prevent sunlight from reaching her. Sakuya found a lamp to light so that she could see in the darkness.

Finishing her sealing of the house, Remilia sat down at the table and began removing her gloves. Sakuya set the lamp on the table and took a knee in front of her lady to remove her boots.

"This town is awfully quiet, Sakuya. It's strange," Remilia observed, setting her gloves on the table.

"The Crusade has already been through here, my lady," her servant explained.

"Oh?" Remilia's interest was piqued.

"Yes, my lady. I was a member of the force sent to p... remove the undead infesting this town."

* * *

One month had passed since the Battle of Lordaeron. Yana Bloodspear lay prone on a hill overlooking the town of Brill. She had a gnomish looking-scope pressed to her open eye, scanning the below settlement. Satisfied, she spoke to her apprentices, "There are well over one hundred of them down there. No sign of any commander or greater undead, but we must be prepared for the chance."

The chief assassin looked over her shoulder. The first she noticed was Rohan. The man wasn't the best choice for an assassin. Yana once caught him behind behind the Monestary dancing.

The others: Jorg, Aren, Marek, Irfod, Faern, Folkrik... Lauc. She was proud of his progress and skill, but he was frightening. He was the paragon of Crusader mentality.

Lauc was Yana's focused apprentice, no matter her thoughts on him. The Crusade saw his kind of cruelty as an admirable trait and wished for him to succeed her as Chief Assassin.

Lauc himself seemed to idolize Yana. When he and the other assassins were introduced to her, he was already trained as a fencer. Instead of improving upon the style he already knew, he abandoned the sword and took up the weapon of his mentor: the spear. He trained almost constantly in its use. He watched Yana's movement closely during their lessons so that he could visualize the muscle movements for when he performed the same maneuvers.

At present, Lauc was observing the town along with Yana, though it was unlikely he could make out any details.

Yana put her eye back against her scope and peered towards the small road on the northern side of Brill. She could see the red banner of an advancing Crusader force steadily approaching the town. It was time.

"We proceed as planned," she said, collapsing the looking-scope (which she slid into a pocket on the inside of her coat) and standing. She unlatched her spear and led the assassins to the southern side of the town.

The plan was a simple one. They were to wait there undetected until the main force hit from the north, at which point they would take advantage of the distraction, enter from behind and eliminate any possible spellcasters. After that was completed, they would then cut down the horde of undead from behind.

It wasn't long before a chorus of battlecries rose from the north. Yana peered from her hiding place under some falled brush, twigs, and stones. As planned, the undead were milling to meet the assault.

The assassins carefully pulled themselves from their improvised hiding places. They crept towards the town, tryig to not draw attention to themselves. There was no sound to indicate the presence of spellcasters. This was shaping to be a much easier engagement than they thought it was going to be.

Yana led the assassins into the town. They didn't worry about being attacked the horde, so they set about searching the buildings for any targets that were lingering behind.

Sword in hand, Rohan approached the door of the largest house in town. He slowly pushed the door open, ready to impale any undead that hid inside upon his blade. This was unnecessary asno corpse was waiting for him. However, he was met with the sight of a robe-weaing gray-haired man stepping down from a staircase to his left. As soon as Rohan was a step through the door, the necromancer's hands shot up in front of him

A wave of magical force pushed Rohan back out the door, causing him to trip on an uneven paving stone.

"Necromancer!" he called as he shot to his feet. The rest of the assassins converged towards him.

The necromancer strode through the door, an air of power about him. Irfod raised his crossbow and fired off his readied bolt. The necromancer simply waved his hand and a gust of energy blew the bolt away, imbedding itself uselessly in the house's wall.

The necromancer seemed to be more of a threat than they had expected. This would require some skill.

The necromancer extended both arms towards the assassins. He began reciting words of dark power, amassing energy in his hands.

"Move!" Yana commanded. The assassins sprang away from the center of the road just as two bolts of a sickly green and black color flew from the necromancer's hands. The bolts collided with the paving, causing broken stones to be thrown in every direction.

Marek charged, sword raised for a strike. The necromancer made a pulling up motion from the ground. The rotting skeleton of someone long dead emerged from the ground in front of Marek, creating a small hole in the road.

Marek adjusted his attack at the newly risen creature. However, the skeleton was feeding from the considerable power well of the necromancer, so the sword simply glanced off the bone. The skeleton wrapped its arms around the man, holding him in place with an unnatural strength.

Lauc took advantage of the necromancer's distraction and hurled his spear like a javelin. Yana saw that as a foolish move, as someone of this necromancer's power couldn't possibly-

_Thrt._

The spear tore straight through the necromancer's back. With his spine severed and his blood quickly pooling, the necromancer collapsed. The skeleton fell apart into a useless pile of bones at Marek's feet.

"Very well done, Lauc," Yana congratulated, still suspicious over their quick victory. She kept an eye on the corpse, expecting it to stand back up and unleash a volley of unholy magic, but it never did.

Lauc retrieved his spear from the corpse and turned to Yana, who nodded. The assassins turned to the undead horde. Their battle with the necromancer attracted the attention of some of the readmost undead, who were advancing towards them with hungry moans.

The assassins prepared themselves and charged into battle. They cut a bloody swath through the undead, and with the help of the Crusader soldiers, they made short work of the monsters.

Yana stood with the surviving Crusaders after the battle. The men were hunting for shovels to dig a mass grave for burning the corpses. She watched the blaze that was made with her fellow assassins, still watching the necromancer's corpse.

As she turned away from the fire, she noticed a messager boy approaching her. "Orders from the Inquisitor, lady Chief Assassin!"

Without a word, Yana took the letter and opened it. A solo assignment west. There was a small area where strange happenings were being reported. She was to send the assassins back to Tyr's Hand and head out immediately.

* * *

"So you and your apprentices killed everything in town. Quite a bit of story just to say that."

Sakuya bowed her head in apology. "I do apologize, my lady, but I felt that you should know what happened here. Even if my memory is unclear."

The servant woman unlatched her spear and set it to the side of the room. "Now, I believe it is time for your supper, my lady." She sat on the bed next to Remilia (who had already taken a seat there). After her lady fed enough to feel comfortable, Sakuya cleaned the excess blood from her arm and mistress' mouth with a cloth. "You should rest, my lady. We still have quite a bit of ground to cover tonight."

Remilia nodded and lay down. Sleeping during the day felt much better, much more natural, than at night. This one would be the most restful sleep she had had since they had left the old house.

When she awoke, Sakuya, was already up with a boiling pot of tea. The early night was quite boring – they only ate and left the house. Remilia decided that they would keep heading east away from Lordaeron.

It had been three hours since they started again. Remilia walked ahead of Sakuya, leading the way into the unknown (for her, at any rate). The land was as lifeless here as the rest that she had seen. She was starting to wonder whether there was any life to be found in the world at all.

She observed the land around her, taking in the sights of the dying trees and ground. The clouds above were thick, meaning she would still be safe even during the daylight. She only hoped that it didn't rain. That was one of the things she had been warned about.

Looking ahead, she was stopped. In the distance, she saw a building, and although she had never been here before, it was familiar to her. Remilia stared at it, trying to remember where she had seen it, drawn towards it...

Remilia yelped as she was suddenly knocked forward. She watched with wide eyes as the ground rushed to meet her. Luckily, her reflexes were her savior. Both of her arms shot out in front of her timely to catch her from completely hitting the ground. A stray rock bit into her palm uncomfortably, but at least her face had been spared. Angrily, she jumped her feet under herself and stood. Remilia turned and hissed, "Watch where you're going!"

Sakuya bowed in apology, a completely serene expression resting on her face. "My deepest apologies, my lady." Straightening, she continued. "May I ask what caused you to halt so suddenly?"

Remilia turned back and looked at the burned out farmhouse in the distance. "I felt something familiar about that building," she said, indicating the ruined structure. "I... I think we need to go there."

"As you wish, my lady," Sakuya agreed, completely unable to see the farm for herself in the night's darkness.

They arrived on the property within a few minutes, passing a broken wagon as they entered the grounds. The farmhouse was interiorly burned with a mostly intact exterior. Across a stretching empty field lay a dark forest, too thick for Remilia to make out any images besides the foliage.

It appeared that a battle had been fought here. The smell of rotten flesh was strong in the air, hanging about in stagnancy. There were four partially armored corpses scattered around the property, all in varying stages of destruction and decay. Whatever had killed these men would have had to be fiercely powerful (and she sure was, wasn't she?). Very little armor actually remained on the corpses, having been torn away by scavengers and undead to grant access to the flesh beneath.

There was something terribly familiar about the entire scene, but Remilia couldn't quite grasp what that something was.

The vampire examined the house more closely. It was small-ish, seeming to have been built with a small family in mind. The roof had collapsed in the middle, assumedly during the fire. A porch stretched out from the back, facing the field. The field itself was completely empty, the grain that should have been growing cleared out. There was a barn on the other side of the house, where Remilia believed the inhabitants would have kept their livestock. A stream flowed past the side of the house. Outside of the field's edge was a hill with an old tree next to it. Under the tree, Remilia could see a simple gravestone.

"My lady?"

Remilia looked at her servant. "Wait out here," she said, setting her pack down and turning to the porch. The wood creaked under her as she stepped onto it as if it had not dealt with strain since the fire. The door to the inside was missing, probably destroyed during the fire. Inside of the house wasn't much better. The entire interior had been charred. A large pile of blackened timber under a hole in the roof separated the house into two. Pieces of furniture were scattered around, fallen over if not burned to uselessness.

Remilia walked into the house, raising ash into the air with each step. She examined the house thoroughly as she approached the timber pile. The roof had collapsed against the pile, leaving only a small gap between the two.

Looking at the pile, she found a sturdy path to crawl over without collapsing it. She reached and grabbed on to the first board of her path. It was hard to keep a hold on the wood despite her strength and balance. The wood had warped from rain and exposure and had developed a kind of film over the surface, making it hard to grip. Carefully, she felt her way to the top, trying to choose her grips carefully. Remilia reached up, almost to the last board...

Suddenly, she was clinging to the pile, pulse racing... well, if she had one, it would be. Her foot had slipped on one of the boards below her, causing it to fall while she had stood on it. She had misjudged its security in the pile, but it was luckily a small one and didn't have an effect on the pile.

"My lady, are you well?!" came Sakuya's worried voice from outside.

"Just a slip! Nothing to worry about," Remilia replied. This seemed to satisfy Sakuya, as she didn't continue.

Letting out her breath, Remilia reached through the hole and wiggled between the roof and ruin pile. The moon peaked through the clouds as she stood, careful to keep her balance. Remilia could see Sakuya standing outside the house. The servant was highly attentive and looked up to see her mistress' silhouette on the roof of the building.

"My lady?" she said, confused as to why her mistress had climbed her way up there.

The clouds had parted, allowing the moonlight to bathe Remilia. With her sensitive vampiric skin, the moon was to her like the sun was to a regular human. That is to say, she could feel heat from it and her skin would redden if she stayed exposed for too long. The advantage for her, however, was that the White Lady didn't put off as much light as the sun, making any effect slower to take hold and easier to avoid.

She looked down, seeing that the pile was easier to climb down from this side as the roof was far clear of the top. Still, Remilia tread carefully as she made her was into the blocked half of the building.

She scanned the room as her feet hit the floor. There wasn't any danger, as this isolated corner of the house was out of the way and difficult to enter. The burnt remains of what Remilia guessed was once a table lay broken against the wall. She saw a broken lamp, probably the cause of the fire that had ruined the house.

Remilia walked forward, covering her nose and mouth in order to protect from the newly risen ash. She might not need to breathe, but it was still uncomfortable to get ash in her throat.

The room had very little in it besides ruined furniture. Disappointed, Remilia climbed back out and down into the main house.

She was walking to leave the house when something laying on a side table near the door caught her eye. Please that she had found something, she grabbed the colorful object.

It was a small singed family painting. Remilia knew none of the four people in the painting. There were two young girls, one about the age she thought herself to be, and and older man and woman. It wasn't a very high quality painting and seemed a few years old past the burns. The painter had put happiness into their expressions, making it a rather warm picture.

Remilia felt some sort of familiarity with the girl with blonde hair. It was strange. She knew that she had never met the girl, but something drew Remilia to her. She had to find her. It was a need.

Remilia took the picture with her as she left the building. "Sakuya," she called, grabbing her servant's attention.

"Yes, my lady?" the woman responded, turning away from the woods.

Acting on her whim, Remilia ordered Sakuya to her side. "Do you know any of the people in this?" the vampire asked, handing the painting to Sakuya.

The woman took it and attempted to make out what was depicted. The moon was still uncovered, which provided enough light for Sakuya to effectively see the painting. "This one is you, my lady," Sakuya said, using her finger to indicate the older of the two girls.

Remilia took the painting back and stared at it. So that was what she looked like. Vampires had no reflections, making it impossible for Remilia to ever see herself. Here she had a painting of her before her transformation. She seemed very... innocent in the painting. Oblivious to the creature she would become. Oh, well. Remilia was quite fond of being a vampire, anyway.

"Would this be a family portrait, then?' she asked.

Sakuya nodded and affirmed that it would most likely be so.

Remilia looked back down at the painting in her hands. "Then I know what we are going to do next." She was going to find her family. Perhaps they would be okay with her being a vampire.

Sakuya bowed, having anticipated her mistress' decision. "As you wish."

Remilia placed the picture carefully into her pack and looked back to Sakuya. "Any idea where we should start looking?" she asked the far more traveled woman.

"Perhaps we could go south and take a boat across the Lordamere to Dalaran. There may be a mage who would be willing to help us, my lady," Sakuya suggested.

Remilia had read about Dalaran in her many books. The old woman had also taught her about it, saying that the magic worked there was unheard of anywhere else in the world. Yes, Dalaran would most likely hold someone with the ability to help.

And so Remilia looked about. "So, which way is south?" Remilia asked her servant.

Sakuya looked up to the night sky. "By the time of year, I suppose south is..." Sakuya followed the now-revealed stars with some method Remilia didn't know. "That way," the woman soon came to conclude, her hand extended to indicate the direction towards the forest on the edge of the field.

Remilia was not exactly happy with that. "We will go around," she announced, not at all willing to go on a tromp through that forest. They would go around until there was a clear path for them. She redonned her pack and placed the picture within it.

The two had started on their new path. They would go south to Dalaran, where someone would be able to tell her where the other girl in the painting could be found. They would find the girl, even if Remilia had to search the entirety of Azeroth for her.

They stepped out of the field when a change in the wind brought a new scent to Remilia's attention. "Wait," she said to stop Sakuya. The vampire raised her head slightly so as to better catch the scent. Her eyes narrowed as she recognized the owner. "There's an undead nearby. In the forest," Remilia relayed to the silver-haired woman, who nodded and loosened her spear.

Remilia turned her attention fully to the darkened wood. Her eyes could make out the creature now, but she was certain that Sakuya wouldn't be able to see it from this distance. Remilia took a step forward. "Sakuya, I want to try this one. You stand back and be ready to help, should I need it."

Sakuya glanced at her mistress warily, but did take a few steps back. She never took her hands from her weapon.

Remilia dropped her pack and walked fully back into the field to draw the monster's attention on herself. It worked, as the creature followed her visually until she was in the field. Remilia heard it let out a breath of excitement as it took its first step out of the forest.

The creature stood a little above six feet tall. Its skin was ripped in several places, showing the powerful muscles underneath. The thing moved with power and confidence. A twisted grin split its face in two. Literally. It was obvious that it believed itself too powerful for the young vampire. Remilia answered its smile with her own. She would have to correct the creature.

* * *

Remilia shuddered in her bed. A few tears made their way from her eyes. She did not like what was about to happen.

* * *

Remilia braced her legs for a charge as the monstrosity walked from the treeline. Her speed would definitely far outmatch it. With one strong push, the vampire was sprinting to the other undead. It didn't even take a second for her to reach her target. A quick strike would start this off-

_Krk!_

Surprise didn't even have time to register for Remilia as the massive undead whipped her from the ground. Even to her fast-adjusting eyes, the world was a blur as the monster picked her up, spun around, and threw her at an astounding speed back at the house. Splinters of wood were the least of the damage. As Remilia crashed into the house, the entire wall collapsed, sending massive chunks of half-burned wood flying out into the yard.

"Milady!" came Sakuya's worried cry from outside. Remilia barely heard the call. Her head was ringing from the impact. Well, she hadn't expected that. The creature was far faster than anticipated. Remilia pushed herself up slowly. She may have to approach this differently.

Dust and small pieces of broken wood dropped from her dress as she stood. She heard a cracking laugh come from the monster. "Is this all the 'chosen one' has to give? You aren't even worth having been given that gift!" it said. Remilia could swear that there were two voices coming from the creature's mouth.

Remilia tensed from the words. She turned slowly. "What do you mean, 'given'?"

"You are nowhere nearly as powerful as you should be, vampire. The Master should have found a better subject for transformation than a child like you."

Remilia wasn't particularly sure why, but that upset her. Saying she wasn't strong enough to be worthy of being a vampire? What an insult. She didn't even care that the creature knew what happened to her. It needed to die.

Remilia walked out of the now-obliterated house. "I'll be nice to the kid. Lay down now and I'll make sure that your death comes quickly," mocked the undead.

Remilia simply laughed in reply. "You think that a single surprise attack makes you more powerful than a vampire? You, better than a ruler of the night?" Remilia flexed her claws and braced her legs once more. "I will have to teach you to know better than that." Remilia lowered herself, but not for another sprint. Instead, she pushed up, sending her flying up. The force that would normally send her running at an incredible speed was now used to propel her into the air. With a jump like that, she could have just jumped on top of the building.

The other undead simply watched the young vampire sail into the air. No attention to anyone else in the vacinity.

_Thrk!_

Sakuya loosed her spear across the field. It found its mark in the monster's torso, biting deeply into rotten flesh.

The large creature slowly looked down at the spear protruding from its body. A rough laugh rose from its throat as it reached up to grab the shaft of the spear. A sharp snap was heard as the spear was broken into two. It pulled out the half still imbedded in its chest and let it clatter to the ground. "You should stay out of this, human. You may get youself hurt," the creature said, the twisted smile once again splitting its face.

Remilia used the double distraction to change her fall trajectory to the undead. With a thud, Remilia landed on and knocked over her target. With no time to be wasted, she imediately began tearing apart the creature's already half-rotten face.

Once again, the monstrosity showed its power. All it did in response to the fierce attack made by the vampire was stand up. Dark blood poured from gashes made on its face, but it didn't seem to have any effect on it. Remilia used the creature's chest as a springboard to jump away to a safe distance. She studied her opponent as she landed. It seemed more than normal attacks would work. Of course not. With this fact completely established, Remilia started looking for another method of attack. Before she could come up with another plan, however...

"You really have nothing. Let a true servant of the Lich King take your place." The monster of a former man strode casually towards his opponents, pure confidence emanating from him.

Remilia looked to her now-weaponless servant. Sakuya was desperately looking around for something else to defend herself with. The woman soon decided to use one of the fallen soldiers' weapons. Remilia turned her attention back to the approaching monster. It was both faster and stronger than her, but it seemed to be unable to focus on many targets at once. Sakuya and Remilia would have to coordinate their efforts to stand a chance.

The monster was only a few yards from her now. Remilia saw Sakuya grab one of the discarded swords and turn back to the two undead. The vampire decided she would be the one to grant the distraction.

The hulking creature raised its arm for a strike. Remilia was more prepared for it now, however. She watched as the muscular trunk of an arm swung towards her. Both of the smaller creature's arms flew up to grab the much larger creature's. She felt her legs slightly bend to help compensate for the strong blow.

Remilia was struggling to keep her ground, but she wasn't going to let her opponent know that. Instead, she gave a smile. "You call yourself a 'true servant'? I'd bet you haven't even killed a single person. Me? I've killed more than I can remember." (Technically, this was true)

"You think you've spread more death than such a prime weapon as me? You're amusing. Entire villages have fallen to me alone. All you've done is kill a few footmen and peasants. Hardly the stuff of pride."

Tch. It already knew about her kills. "I'll have you know that I killed a paladin, and would have done another in had I not been interfered with."

"How impressive, eliminating a member of a dying faction. I once stood against an entire banner of Scarlet Crusaders (about thirty crusaders, Sakuya had told Remilia). Not a single one of them made it out alive."

"I fought an entire horde walking corpses and wasn't even touched before they were all re-dead." She was lying now. She needed a little more time.

"You have the strangest idea of things that make you strong. All of your so-called 'exploits' are nothing but the idle playings of children. You are a disappointment."

"A disappointment to someone who holds no importance to me."

"You don't respect your own creator? You truly aren't fit for your title."

The creature lifted its other arm to deliver a finishing blow to the vampire. With a yell, Sakuya leaped onto the creature's back from behind. She held the sword in one hand and held on to the creature with the other. She hacked away at the creature's neck repeatedly with the sword she looted from one of the corpses.

The creature let out a roar of anger and pain as its neck muscles began to separate. It disengaged Remilia to try and remove the new attacker from its back, but its arms were too large to reach her. Remilia took advantage of this situation to tear at its stomach. Rotted entrails spilled out from the gaping wound now dominating its middle body.

Strike after strike Sakuya landed on the now barely-attached neck. The air became filled with the stench of rot and blood, but that wasn't enough to upset the two who were now devestating the massive creature.

The creature lifted one leg and kicked, hitting Remilia's front. The small vampire went flying into the forest from the collision, stopping only after coming into very quick and very violent contact with a tree. To get Sakuya from its back, it jumped so that it would land face up. Sakuya managed to push herself away from the creature before it landed, however, avoiding being smashed beneath it.

The woman sought to distance herself from the monster before it could stand. Remilia was once again pushing herself up from the ground. _'That is the second time today __I__ have been thrown into something,'_ Remilia thought as she stood back to her feet. Sakuya was going to have to sew this dress up after all the abuse it had suffered in the past few minutes. She looked out into the field to see her opponent standing as well. She watched as its neck slowly grew back together. "Are you serious?!" she exclaimed.

The monstrosity turned its head, which was now returning to an upright position. "How many things are you going to try before you finally realize that it's no use?" It scanned the field, eyes settling on Sakuya. "Perhaps I should force you to surrender through your human ally." Sakuya tensed as she realized that she was the new target.

Remilia was sprinting instantly. The creature turned back to her, a wide swing of its arm just barely missing the short vampire. She answered by delivering a deep gash along its middle. Not to be still for the larger monster, she slid around its side and tore into the back of its leg.

With its leg damaged, the creature collapsed to one knee. Remilia continued by digging her claws into the thing's neck. A sickening rip filled the air. Remilia released her grip, letting the monster's head fall to the ground. Blood flowed as from a fountain from the torn neck. The body slowly slumped forward to make a re-dead lump.

"You do not threaten my employees." The vampire turned and walked to her stunned servant. "We had best continue on," she said.

Sakuya recovered slightly from her shock. "How did you turn that around so quickly, my lady?" she asked.

Remilia gave a grin. "I don't like people threatening to harm those I'm responsible for. Come on. We need to find somewhere to stay before morning."

And so the two started back off on their journey. Behind them the corpse of the monsterous undead lay silently, absolutely defeated.

"Ha!"

Remilia stopped and turned her head to the corpse. A rotten hand reached out and grabbed the severed head. Wet snapping sounds could be heard and it shoved the head onto the stump of a neck.

"That was more like it! You didn't do a good enough job here, though." Remilia watched as the creature's head slowly popped back into place. "I suppose you really aren't worth keeping."

Remilia was starting to become very annoyed. This creature dared taunt her after she literally tore its head off. It attacked her, belittled her, threatened her servant...

Remilia felt something warm bubbling up from within her. The scum thought it was better than her. It took pleasure in insults. The audacity of such a rotten beast.

A dark crimson magic circle appear behind Remilia. Her hearing started to fade out, replaced by the steady thump of a heart she no longer possessed. She no longer knew what she was doing, but she knew she could. She raised her arm and held her hand out towards the regenerating undead.

A flash of emotion crossed the creature's face. "Wait, what?" it said, taken off guard by its opponent. "You shouldn't be able to do that without the Master's blessing!"

The words barely registered with Remilia. All she could hear was the pounding of blood in her ears. Energy gathered around her hand, traveling back across her arm to connect with the circle of magic behind her.

The undead let its head down. "You really are his 'chosen one'. There's no hope for me, then." It raised its head again, a look of hostile resignation resting there. "What are you waiting for? Do it now!" it yelled.

At that moment, a burst of power exploded from behind Remilia. She felt an extreme heat and then a feeling of rushing. Her ears rang from the sudden outburst of energy. She watched as a large, solid beam of what seemed to be blood rushed past her, inches from her face. She could feel the heat radiating from it.

The creature screamed in pain as the beam came into contact with it. Remilia could smell the flesh burning to ash in the half a second after the beam first hit her target. The screams soon stopped.

Remilia felt all the energy released from the attack slam back into her. This caused her to wobble unsurely. However, just some disorientation wasn't a bad deal considering what happened to the monster. All that remained was a cauterized lower body. The rest had been completely obliterated by the heat. They shouldn't have to worry about that beast again.

Remilia felt quite weaker after expending so much energy. She wasn't unwell enough to not be able to walk, though. Sakuya just stared at the truly re-dead corpse, her thoughts kept to herself.

Remilia raised her hand and looked at it. The old woman never told her anything about that.

Deciding to let it fall to the side, Remilia lowered her arm and called her servant back to attention. "If it isn't dead now, nothing we do can kill it. Let's go."

Sakuya nodded, but first took a sheath for her new sword from one of the dead footmen. With her spear broken, she would have to settle for a different method of defense.

After having defeated that undead abomination, the two ran into little resistance. Only one thing of note happened during the next few hours on their way to Lordamere lake.

Remilia was once again leading her night-sightless servant through the dark. Sakuya was rather quiet. Maybe they should talk about what happened at the farm. Eventually.

The sound of cracking twigs caught Remilia's attention. Once again she signaled for her servant to stop. Remilia flexed her claws for possible combat. She searched around, searching for the source of the sound. The left.

Remilia turned to see a large figure step from behind a tree. It was astounding it had managed to get this close without her hearing. However, what was standing there was unexpected.

A large, green skinned creature stood there. Two small tusks peeked from its mouth. Its arms and legs were almost as large as tree branches. Without a doubt, this was the largest natural creature she had ever lain eyes on.

_'An orc,'_ she thought. She had read much about them in her books, but had never actually seen one. In fact, this was the first time she had seen something other than undead or humans.

According to her books, orcs were high aggressive creatures who would go into a rage at the littlest provocation. Remilia kept her guard up.

The orc seemed just as wary as she. It slowly advanced, trying to keep a good distance from the two humans. There was no desire for conflict here, only continuing on their separate ways.

Remilia never once let herself relax until the orc was fully out of sight. "It has passed, my lady," came Sakuya's voice from behind her.

Remilia straightened her back and retracted her claws. She started without a word.

They soon came across another village. There was a major difference between this village and the others they had been in, however. It lay on the edge of a massive, mile-spanning lake. "This is the Lordamere lake, my lady."

Remilia stared with awe at the sight. The sound of water was one she was unaccustomed to. This was the most beautiful sight Remilia had ever beheld (until later in her life, that is).

The village itself was far less impressive. There were only a few shacks and a small dock. A path wound through the village and off into the distance. This must have been a fishing village. A few boats were still tied to the dock.

Remilia looked to the sky. A light blue had began to fade into the darkness, signaling a fast approaching morning. "Let's rest here for the day," she said, already picking out somewhere to stay. Unfortunately, every building was just as run down as the others.

She chose one at random. It was a small little home with very little furnishment. It wasn't much, but it was enough for them to stay in. Sakuya fed her lady before both slipped off to sleep.

* * *

Remilia's eyes slowly opened. She felt that the sun had retreated from the sky. Sakuya was already there to help her prepare for her night.

The vampire rose from her blankets. Her outfits were all lain out, awaiting her choice. She decided upon a pink dress and cap.

Her dreams had been quite eventful. The memory searching she had done yesterday was beginning to even follow her into sleep. She had a crawling feeling that it would continue to do so until she caught up to now. Sighing, she turned to Sakuya by the door. It was time to start the daily schedule.

* * *

Keshi: I'm probably way up there in the list of bad-update time keepers. Chapter 3's finally here, though! The fight against papa doesn't quite feel right. I wonder if I'm losing my bloody battle sense. I thank everyone who actually reads this. It makes me happy to entertain someone. Look forward to the (eventual) release of the next chapter!


End file.
